Amazon Prime Will Release Latest ‘Evangelion’ Film Globally

As Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time did huge numbers in Japanese theaters, we awaited news of a global release with bated breath. Now we have it: Amazon Prime Video has picked up worldwide rights to the film (bar Japan).

The streamer will release the film on August 13 in over 240 countries and territories. It will come with ten dubs (including English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian) and subtitles in 28 languages. Amazon will also release the slightly reworked versions of the first three films in the tetralogy, Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone, Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance, and Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo.

There’s no word on a Blu-ray release, an important point for many fans.

The deal marks a departure for the franchise: the previous three Evangelion films were released in North America by Funimation, generally in partnership with distributors like Cinema Asia Releasing and Eleven Arts. Hideaki Anno, creator of the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise and co-director of all the films, hinted in a statement at the reason behind a global streaming release for Thrice Upon a Time:

We were looking for the best way to offer the movie to fans overseas as early as possible in a challenging situation with movie theaters during Covid-19, and are happy to have found Prime Video as a partner to stream it globally. We highly recommend watching it on a big tv screen for the best viewing experience.

Thrice Upon a Time, purportedly the final film in the series, opened in Japanese theaters on March 8. It took around $30.6 million in its first week, and is now the highest-grossing movie in franchise history. Studio Khara produced it.