In the "Dengeki Bunko Aki no Saiten 2016" event held on March 13, 2016, it was confirmed that "Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale" is coming to theaters on Feb. 18, 2017 in more than 150 cinemas all throughout Japan.
Aniplex of America also confirmed the overseas release which expects the film to play in more than 1,000 theaters worldwide. Madman Entertainment, on the other hand, will release the film at theatres in Australia and New Zealand sometime in 2017.
The film began production after it was announced on Oct. 4, 2015 that the light novel series will be adapted into an animated film. It is reported that the main staff from the anime series returned to do the film. The voice cast from the anime series will also return to reprise their roles in the film.
The films story takes place after the Mother Rosario's arc which is set after the events of the anime's second season in which Kirito, Asuna, and friends start playing a new game called OS, which is short for Ordinal Scale. In this new game, players are ranked according to their achievements and thus players with lower ranks have serious disadvantages in duels against their higher ranked peers. However, Kirito and company discover that something is wrong when they come across monsters from Aincrad, the world from the same game they were trapped inside for two years while fighting for their lives.
The film is produced by A-1 Pictures and directed by Tomohiko Itō. It features an original story by Reki Kawahara, character designs by Shingo Adachi and music by Yuki Kajiura.
"Sword Art Online" is a Japanese light novel that is steadily growing in terms of global popularity. In fact, it has received widespread commercial success with 19 million copies were sold worldwide. Its animated series has also received mixed to positive reviews, praised for its animation, musical score and exploration of the psychological aspects of virtual reality but criticized for pacing and writing. Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave the anime minus points for some big logical gaps and issues with storytelling.
Aside from the film, a live-action TV series is also being planned for "Sword Art Online" according to The Hollywood Reporter. Skydance Television, an independent production company, has acquired the global live action rights to "Sword Art Online" in a partnership with Kadokawa Corp. and is currently looking to bring the Japanese light novel/anime franchise to the small screen.
