#GKIDS and Toei Animation Host The First Slam Dunk North American Premiere at Anime Expo 2023

GKIDS and Toei Animation announced that it will host the North American premiere of The First Slam Dunk at this year’s Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California. GKIDS announced earlier this past month that it had acquired the North American distribution rights for the film, which first premiered in Japan on December 3, 2022. 

The North American premiere will take place at the Main Events Hall in the Los Angeles Convention Center on July 3, 2023 at 12:00 PST. The first 2,500 guests at the premiere will receive an exclusive The First Slam Dunk souvenir booklet. 

GKIDS will release The First Slam Dunk theatrically in the United States and Canada later this summer in both its original Japanese language with English subtitles and an all-new English dubbed version.

The film has broken numerous box office records in Japan and various other countries during its current international release. It marks the first new feature-length film from the basketball series in over 28 years and is written and directed by original manga creator Takehiko Inoue. The film was also awarded the 2023 Japan Academy Prize for Best Animation of the Year.

The original Slam Dunk manga series was serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from October 1, 1990 to June 17, 1996. A total of 31 tankoubon volumes have been released, with over 170 million copies sold globally. The series has been adapted to various media, video games, an anime series that ran from 1993 to 1996, and several anime films.  

GKIDS describes the synopsis of The First Slam Dunk as: 

Shohoku’s “speedster” and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older. Following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.

In his second year of high school, Ryota plays with the Shohoku High School basketball team along with Sakuragi, Rukawa, Akagi, and Mitsui as they take the stage at the Inter-High School National Championship. And now, they are on the brink of challenging the reigning champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School.

Source: press release