Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Time Is Coming To IMAX In November For One Day Only

We're living in a golden age of anime distribution. It's never been easier to access anime both old and new, be they movies or TV shows. Long gone are the days where you'd have to shell out hundreds of dollars for a VHS that only contained a couple of episodes, or seek out bootleg YouTube videos that split up every episode into tiny chunks (with the risk of one of the parts getting taken down) with fansubs that weren't totally accurate. Nowadays, anime movies get wide distribution in theaters across the United States, they get big marketing campaigns with Time Square promos, and they often top the box office.

This made the fact that "Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time," the last of the "Rebuild of Evangelion" movies, was dumped into streaming with barely any notice or promotion quite a tragedy. The movie had already been a huge hit in Japanese theaters, so why deprive American audiences of the chance to get depressed in a theater with other fans? Why not allow them to get confused at the new lore, excited over the new action scenes, and let them cry the moment Hikaru Utada starts singing "One Last Kiss" during the ending credits?

Thankfully, GKIDS is pulling a third act surprise appearance and is releasing "Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time" in theaters for a special limited event. Not only that, but they're also giving the film an IMAX release for one night only, so you can experience Hideaki Anno's conclusion to the iconic franchise in the biggest screen possible.

"Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time" is a monumental achievement for how easily it could have fallen apart. This is one of the longest anime movies ever made, and it justifies its runtime with even more crazy lore, the return of the slice-of-life tone of the original anime, and a doubling down on the existential and experimental storytelling as we go deep inside the mind of Shinji Ikari, all while defying remake conventions by serving as both a sequel, a remake, and a commentary on the original show and "End of Evangelion." The result is one of the best movies of 2021, and a perfect ending to this franchise.

Now, you can experience the film in IMAX when GKIDS releases "Evangelion 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon a Time" for a one night only event on November 30, 2022. Then, the film will screen in limited release on December 6, 8, and 11, 2022.