“The Boy and the Heron” will be available to stream on Max

Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning animated film “The Boy and the Heron” will be available to stream on Max.

GKIDS, Ghibli’s North American distributor, tweeted that The Boy and the Heron will return to North American theaters for a “celebratory re-release” soon. Heron is GKIDS’s biggest release ever by any metric we can think of. It’s the highest-grossing film in GKIDS history and marks the first time, after 13 nominations, that a film distributed by the company has won the animated feature Oscar.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced a multiyear agreement with independent distributor GKids to extend Max’s exclusive U.S. film streaming rights for Studio Ghibli. The streamer has been the U.S. home to Studio Ghibli’s catalog since 2020, when the service originally launched as HBO Max.

“Our subscribers are always looking for unique stories, and we are happy to continue to offer these award-winning, critically acclaimed films and to add ‘The Boy and the Heron’ to our deep and rich Max content offering,” said Elizabeth Bannan Atcheson, VP, Content Acquisitions, Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Oscar for “The Boy and the Heron” is Miyazaki’s second, after he won the animated feature prize in 2003 for “Spirited Award.” He also accepted an honorary Academy Award in 2014 for “exceptional contributions to cinema.”

Although a specific debut date for “The Boy and the Heron” is yet to be announced, the streaming platform said that its arrival will be “made later this year,” according to IGN.