Assassin’s Creed has come and gone. For a good year and a half, we speculated that it could potentially be the film that finally cracks the video game movie code. As I’m sure you noticed by now…that doesn’t seem to be the case. The flick didn’t click with either critics or fans, and its box office — while not a huge flop — isn’t really fortuitous of an impending genre of films. While Assassin’s Creed will by no means be the last video game to be turned into a flick, it may put a temporary pause on the idea of these films hitting it big. 2017 looks to potentially bring another type of film to Hollywood films: anime adaptations. 

In 2017 alone, we’ll be getting the live-action Death Note film on Netflix, and of course, the ever-controversial Ghost in the Shell film, which stars Scarlett Johansson. The latter flick is set to hit theaters on March 31, 2017, and of course, with that there’s bound to be some folks interested in checking out the original film (which itself was based on a manga).

Well, the folks at Lionsgate and Funimation Films certainly seem to be aware of this, and are taking advantage of it by bringing the original 1995 Mamoru Oshii anime to the big screen on February 7-8. According to Coming Soon, the film will hit 110 theaters across the United States in both its English dub form (the dub that American audiences fell in love with back over two decades ago) and in Japanese dub form with English subtitles.

Check out the trailer for the film’s theatrical release event below:

Funimation CEO and founder Gen Fukunaga had the following to say about the release:

“We’re excited to be partnering with Lionsgate to bring the original Ghost in the Shell movie back to U.S. theaters. “Ghost in the Shell is truly a seminal work in anime cinema and it helped firmly establish a market for the genre with U.S. movie audiences.”

Indeed, Ghost in the Shell was a film that deeply resonated with animation fans who were looking for something that better catered to their more mature sensibilities, and for many, the film served as a gateway to a whole new world of animated storytelling. Will the new film manage to capture some of the same success? It’s hard to say, but like Assassin’s Creed before it, Ghost in the Shell has the opportunity to open the floodgates to a whole new trend in Hollywood that’s been floundering for years.

CLICK HERE TO SEE IF THE FILM IS PLAYING IN YOUR AREA!

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SOURCES: Coming Soon, FUNimation