One Piece is popular around the world, and undoubtedly has some global appeal. While fans might have expected One Piece Film Gold to premier in Japan, it has come as a surprise that the movie’s world premiere will actually be held in Abu Dhabi.
While the Japanese premiere is set on 23rd July, the World Premiere for One Piece Film Gold is set for 15th July at at Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace hotel. And that’s not all, the movie’s cast and staff will be flying over from Japan just for the world premiere!
The movie has a casino theme which is reminiscent of cities like Las Vegas and Macau. In fact, the world premiere was originally planned for Las Vegas but plans were changed when anime-influenced animation house Ego Punch Entertainment met with Toei during the Tokyo Game Show event.
“We visited Tokyo Games Show last year – we’re involved in games development as well – and were surprised to find a lot of companies visiting our booth wanting to talk about partnering with us,” says Ego Punch chief executive Ahmed Al Mutawa. “Initially when we talked to Toei we had no intention of working with them, we just really liked what they did, but things moved on.”
“We have a subsidiary company, Ego Space, that focuses on events and exhibitions,” says Mohamed Al Jneibi, Ego Punch’s chief creative officer. “That’s who’s doing the One Piece premiere, and we’re also serving as consultants to the forthcoming Yas Island anime event that the Middle East Film and Comic Con guys are doing in October.”
“They were intending to do the premiere in Las Vegas. We said, ‘Why not think of the Middle East?’ They were unsure if the infrastructure was there, so we said, ‘Guys, why don’t you just get on a plane, come and visit this beautiful country and check it out?’
Well, that certainly is one huge way to make a splash in the world of animation, huh? Looks like One Piece fans in Abu Dhabi get to see the movie before anyone else in the world, even the hardcore fans in Japan!
Source: Crunchyroll
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