Last year, reports surfaced that Hayao Miyazaki was striving to have his next anime film, an adaptation of Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel, Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (How Do You Live?), completed in time for the 2020 Sumer Olympics in Tokyo. However, reports from this past weekend stated that fellow Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki indicated at a recent event that Miyazaki would need 3-4 years to finish. If true, the film would miss the Olympics. Suzuki also revealed that work on the film first commenced two years ago.
Miyazaki will turn 78 in January and many anime fans are worried about the chances of the esteemed director actually completing the project all the way through. Last May, Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli co-founder,
Isao Takahata passed away, deeply affecting Miyazaki (according to reports).
Still, Miyazaki has a vested interest in the project as it was recently revealed that
he came out of retirement to make the film for his grandson.