Anyone here ever heard of Pompo the Cinephile? I hadn’t either, but GKIDS is about to change all that with a NA release of this anime film straight to movie theaters. They even have a teaser for us today that’s so meta, you’ll wonder if Pompo herself is addressing the audience. Check it out below:

Lights, Camera, Anime Action!

The meta factor here is over 9000!

GKIDS has just announced that they’re working together with Fathom Events to bring Pompo the Cinephile to NA shores. You can watch this “stylish and hilarious ode to filmmaking” in select movie theaters starting on Wednesday, April 27, 2022, if you want to watch it in the original Japanese audio with English subtitles. If you want to watch the English dub instead though, then head to theaters on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Tickets to Pompo the Cinephile will go on sale on March 25, 2022. You can purchase them when they become available on either Fathom Events or on GKIDS. We don’t have any pricing for you though, since they’re not on sale yet. That’s something you’ll have to tune it later for.

Pompo the Cinephile: Details

"Pompo the Cinephile" theatrical poster.
Talk about attack of the 50-foot anime girl director.

So what is Pompo the Cinephile about? Well, to put it simply: it’s an anime film about making films in Holly, sorry, Nyallywood from the rather inventive mind of Takayuki Hirao (God Eater, The Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral). The official synopsis from GKIDS gives us more on this rather creative (in more ways than 1) anime film:

Pompo is a talented and gutsy producer in “Nyallywood,” the movie-making capital of the world. Although she’s known for B-movies, one day Pompo tells her movie-loving but apprehensive assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about an aging and tormented creative genius, starring the legendary and Brando-esque actor Martin Braddock, and a young actress seeking her first break. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo’s challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?

Pompo the Cinephile is a rollicking, exuberant ode to the power of the movies, and the joys and heartbreak of the creative process, as a new director and his team devote their lives to the pursuit of a “masterpiece.”

Source: Fathom Events, GKIDS