The Promised Neverland Movie

The Promised Neverland is a live-action adaptation of the manga of the same name which was created by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu. The film is directed by Yūichirō Hirakawa, who is also known for directing films such as the critically acclaimed live-action film ERASED and the live-action Rookie film series. The script is penned by ERASED's scriptwriter Noriko Gotou. The film stars Minami Hamabe as Emma, Rihito Itagaki as Norman and Jyo Kairi as Ray. The Promised Neverland was released on December 18, 2020.

Plot
Grace Field House is a paradisiacal orphanage filled with happiness. The orphans who live there with their “Mother”, the caretaker, Isabella, all look forward to the day they grow old enough to be adopted. Emma (Minami Hamabe), Ray (Kairi Jyo) and Norman (Rihito Itagaki) also believe they could lead an even happier life once they get to live in the outside world… only until “that day”. After Emma and Norman see Conny off, who smilingly leaves the orphanage to be adopted, they find the doll Conny always kept in her arms left at the dining area of the house. To take the doll back to Conny, the two head to the “gate” which Isabella strictly has taught the children to stay away from, where they find Conny dead and ready to be shipped out as “food”. The orphanage which the children thought to be was idyllic, was actually a “farm” to grow edible children to be offered to demons. Furthermore, the “Mother” they had all loved like their actual mother was actually a “cultivator” whose role was to raise the children to be premium feed. Finding out that everything was all but a fantasy, Emma, Ray and Norman begin their reckless attempt to break out of Grace Field House along with their other siblings.

Cast

 * Minami Hamabe as Emma
 * Rihito Itagaki as Norman
 * Jyo Kairi as Ray
 * Keiko Kitagawa as Isabella
 * Naomi Watanabe as Krone
 * Miyu Andô as Gilda

Pre-release
The Promised Neverland is scheduled to be released in winter of 2020, with the announcement of the movie, cast and shots made available to the public on 26 September 2019. A broadcast advertising the movie was aired on 27 September 2019 one day following its announcement on Japanese TV network. The official poster and website of the movie are made available so as to market the movie. Following the movie's announcement, the actress who plays Emma, Minami Hamabe, self-professed herself as a fan of the series, and bought the print volumes and the e-book version of the manga. The actress also praised director Yūichirō Hirakawa and the staff for realizing the world of The Promised Neverland. She vowed to do her best in portraying Emma for everyone who loved the manga.

The authors of The Promised Neverland manga, Shirai and Demizu, commented on the upcoming movie, with both of them being generally positive about it. The two have interacted with the staff members behind the movie as well.

Trivia

 * In both the manga and the anime, Ray is the oldest among the trio, followed by Norman and then Emma. In the live-action movie, however, is the reverse, with Ray being played by a 13 year old actor, Norman by a 17 year old and Emma by a 19 year old actress.
 * It is noted that the live-action versions of the trio will be 15 in the movie, since the departure age for an orphan to leave Grace Field House was switched from 12 to 16. The four year age increase will apply to the other orphans in the movie as well.
 * This change is most likely necessary so as to better fit the ages of Emma's, Norman's and Ray's actors, who are 19, 17 and 13 respectively as stated in the previous trivia.
 * Certain changes in physical appearance besides the aforementioned age increase are the clothes, hairstyle, hair color, eye color of the characters were made, implied or shown from the poster and footage that are currently available.
 * Emma's antenna-like hair is absent in the live-action version.
 * Norman's hair curl is absent in the live-action.
 * Conny and Anna, who both have plantinum blonde hair in the manga and anime, had their hair color changed to a light brown.
 * Phil's light blue eyes were changed to a dark color.

Japanese sites

 * The Promised Neverland movie's official website
 * Movie announcement on Twitter (1)
 * Movie announcement on Twitter (2)
 * Information of the movie on livedoor.com
 * Information of the movie on Yahoo Japan
 * Television announcement of The Promised Neverland movie

English sites

 * Movie announcement on Anime News Network
 * Still shots of the movie on Anime News Network