Sony announced on Thursday that Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, Crunchyroll‘s new animated feature continuing the story of the anime series Overlord and the same-name series of novels from Kugane Maruyama, hits theaters November 8.
Other titles opening that weekend include Lionsgate’s holiday family comedy The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Edward Berger’s Focus awards prospect Conclave, and Vertical’s sci-fi thriller Elevation starring Anthony Mackie and Morena Baccarin.
Set to also screen in IMAX and PLF’s in both Japanese with English subtitles and an English dub, the isekai adventure marking the first theatrical outing for the Overlord franchise picks up after the conclusion of the anime series’ fourth season. The story follows Momonga, a regular salary man who after 12 years of playing his favorite MMORPG video game, logs in for the last time, only to find himself transported into its world indefinitely. Throughout his adventures, his avatar ascends to the title of Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown.
Once prosperous but now on the brink of ruin, The Sacred Kingdom enjoyed years of peace after construction of an enormous wall protecting them from neighboring invasions. But one day, this comes to an end when the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth arrives with an army of villainous demi-humans. Fearing invasion of their own lands, the neighboring territory of the Slane Theocracy is forced to beg their enemies at the Sorcerer Kingdom for help. Heeding the call, Momonga, now known as the Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown, rallies the Sorcerer Kingdom and its undead army to join the fight alongside the Sacred Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy in hopes to defeat the Demon Emperor.
Naoyuki Ito directed the film, based on a story by Maruyama, with Madhouse producing. Satoshi Tasaki provided character design and chief animation direction, with so-bin contributing illustrations, and Shuji Katayama penning its music.
Beginning its life as a web novel before being adapted into a series of light novels and manga publications, Overlord‘s first TV season debuted in 2017. Currently, all four seasons are available on the Crunchyroll streaming service, along with Overlord: The Undead King and Overlord: The Dark Hero, omnibus films that serve as recaps for Season 1.