VIZ MEDIA AND ELEVEN ARTS PRESENT THE THEATRICAL PREMIERE OF ROAD TO NINJA – NARUTO THE MOVIE

FEATURE FILM IN OVER 45 MAJOR U.S. CITIES IN AUGUST

The World’s Most Popular Ninja Returns In His Newest Action-Packed Feature Film Adventure

San Francisco, CA, July 7, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, partners with Los Angeles-based film distribution company ELEVEN ARTS to invite anime fans across the U.S. to attend a special theatrical premiere of ROAD TO NINJA – NARUTO THE MOVIE (dubbed) in a host of major cites starting on Friday, August 29^TH.

The new film, which is the sixth in the massively popular NARURTO SHIPPUDEN feature film series, will premiere in more than 45 cities throughout the U.S. including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle and other major locations. Tickets will go on sale starting Friday, July 11^th. Additional ticket information and a complete list of theatre locations are available at:

http://www.elevenarts.net/th_gallery/naruto-roadtoninja.

In the latest NARUTO SHIPPUDEN feature film, long ago, a mysterious masked shinobi unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox onto the Village Hidden in the Leaves to spread chaos and destruction. But the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki sealed the Tailed Beast into their newborn son, Naruto, to save the village, foiling the shinobi’s plan.

Years later, Naruto and his friends succeed in driving away the infamous Akatsuki, who have mysteriously returned from the dead. Upon returning to the village, the young shinobi are praised by their families for completing a dangerous mission. Reminded of how alone he is, Naruto begins to wonder what it’s like to have parents, when a strange masked figure appears before him – the same masked shinobi responsible for the death of his parents!

“ROAD TO NINJA – NARUTO THE MOVIE dives into the past and takes viewers on a fateful adventure depicting how Naruto and Sakura prevent one of their mortal enemies from stealing the Nine-tailed Fox Demon sealed inside the young ninja and fans will not want to miss this special opportunity to catch all the action in this special multi-city theatrical premiere,” says Charlene Ingram, VIZ Media Senior Marketing Manager, Animation. 

In the NARUTO manga and animated series, Naruto Uzumaki wants to be the best ninja in the land. He's done well so far, but Naruto knows he must train harder than ever and leaves his village for intense exercises that will push him to his limits. NARUTO SHIPPUDEN begins two and a half years later, when Naruto returns to find that everyone has been promoted up the ninja ranks – except him. Sakura’s a medic ninja, Gaara’s advanced to Kazekage, and Kakashi…well he remains the same. But pride isn’t necessarily becoming of a ninja, especially when Naruto realizes that Sasuke never returned from his search for Orochimaru. Plus, the mysterious Akatsuki organization is still an ever-present danger. As Naruto finds out more about the Akatsuki’s goals, he realizes that nothing in his universe is as it seems. Naruto is finding that he’s older, but will he also prove wiser and stronger?

Additional information on NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN is available at www.Naruto.com.

For more information on manga titles available from VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

About ELEVEN ARTS:

ELEVEN ARTS is the Los Angeles based film distribution company that has brought many acclaimed Japanese films, live-action and animated features, to North American audiences. ELEVEN ARTS’s major live-action titles include Japan Academy Awards winner Memories of Tomorrow (starring Ken Watanabe) and Oscar nominated director (with The Twilight Samurai in 2004) Yoji Yamada’s samurai film Love and Honor. ELEVEN ARTS is also a respected distributor of popular animation titles such as the Evangelion franchise, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie Part 1: Beginnings/ Part 2: Eternal/ Part 3: Rebellion, TIGER & BUNNY THE MOVIE: The Rising, and Short Peace. For additional information, go to www.elevenarts.net.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

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