Film screens in U.K., Ireland on February 1; Australia, New Zealand on February 2
Crunchyroll and Aniplex of America announced on Tuesday that Sword Art Online The Movie – Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night (Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Kuraki Yūyami no Scherzo), the second film in the Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- anime film series, will screen in the United States and Canada on February 3. The film will also screen in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 1 and in Australia and New Zealand on February 2. The companies will reveal additional theatrical dates for Europe and Latin America in the future. The film will screen in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub.
The second film opened in Japan on October 22 after a delay and topped the box office chart in its first weekend. The film has earned a cumulative total of 1,076,475,134 yen (about US$7.97 million) as of December 6.
The film features a returning cast. In addition, Kaede Hondo plays Liten, and Yūsuke Kobayashi plays Morte.
Ayako Kohno (unit director on Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic, High School Fleet, The Seven Deadly Sins the Movie: Prisoners of the Sky) returned to direct the film at A-1 Pictures, and Kento Toya (Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld, The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments) returned to design the characters. Yasuyuki Kai again served as action director, and Yuki Kajiura returned to compose the music. Eir Aoi performed the theme song “Shinzо̄” (Heart).
Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night, the first anime film in the project, opened in Japan in October 2021, and topped the box office in its first weekend. The film opened in over 40 countries and territories around the world. Funimation screened the film in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in December 2021. Crunchyroll is streaming the movie. The film will then launch on Blu-ray Disc on January 19, 2023.
The anime is based on Reki Kawahara‘s Sword Art Online: Progressive light novel series. The novel series launched in 2012 as a revised retelling of Kawahara’s original Sword Art Online novels. The story depicts Kirito’s journey through the floating Aincrad castle from the beginning, floor-by-floor. Yen Press is publishing the Sword Art Online: Progressive novel series in English, as well as two manga adaptations.
Source: Press release
