Japanese media giant Toho Co. — the studio behind that country’s famous Godzilla movie monster — has unveiled a deal to acquire GKIDS, the North American indie producer and distributor.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but GKIDS, launched in 2008 with a focus on animated movies, is set to operate as a subsidiary of Toho under company founder/CEO Eric Beckman and president Dave Jesteadt.
“Through their hard work, vision, and integrity, GKIDS has built a unique position in the U.S. market, which dovetails perfectly with Toho’s own strengths and strategic mission. This partnership accelerates Toho’s goals to prioritize animation, develop international markets, and support IP creation, while bringing exceptional Japanese and animated content to global audiences,” Toho President and CEO Hiro Matsuoka said in a statement on Tuesday.
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Beckman and Jesteadt have run GKIDS together since the company released the Oscar-nominated film The Secret of Kells in 2009. That was the first feature from what was then a little-known studio in Ireland, Cartoon Saloon, and the directorial debut of Tomm Moore.
Last year, GKIDS had an Oscar win for Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, and had a North American box office success with Godzilla Minus One, the monster franchise’s acclaimed 37th installment.
The tie-up with Toho, one of Japan’s longest-running entertainment conglomerates, will also allow GKIDS as an independent to better compete in North America against giants like Netflix, Disney and Universal and more recently Silicon Valley competitors like Apple and Amazon.
For its part, Toho’s acquisition of GKIDS aims to grow the Japanese entertainment giant internationally, and connect its Japanese and international productions and creators more widely with foreign partners. The Toho Group already has a 45 percent share of the Japanese distribution market.
Earlier, Toho an made a $225 million equity investment in Los Angeles-based production and distribution company Fifth Season, formerly known as Endeavor Content. GKIDS offers Toho a North American theatrical and home entertainment distribution, marketing, and sales operation to bolster its own licensing, merchandising, and e-commerce operations based out of Japan.
The deal also follows Toho and GKIDS collaborating on earlier projects like Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You and Studio TRIGGER’s Promare, Spirited Away: Live on Stage.
Toho is also the Japanese domestic distributor for properties GKIDS handles in North America, including the works of Studio Ghibli, Mamoru Hosoda and Makoto Shinkai.
