Final Evangelion Film Rescheduled to March 8 After 2 COVID-19 Delays

The official Twitter account for the Evangelion franchise announced on Friday that Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time (Shin Evangelion Gekijō-ban :||), the "final" Evangelion film, has been rescheduled to Monday, March 8. The IMAX, MX4D, and 4DX screenings will all start on that day as well. The staff posted two updated trailers to reflect the new date:

An earlier version of the second trailer above ran during the limited screenings of the third film in the tetralogy, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and was also previewed during television broadcasts of the first three films.

To commemorate the new opening date, participating theaters will start handing out three million leaflets, featuring an exclusive illustration of Asuka by chief animation director Atsushi Nishigori, to filmgoers on March 8. (The leaflet will be B6-size, folded twice.)

The franchise's website also confirmed that the film will be 155 minutes long, as opposed to 154 minutes as briefly listed on the website of Japan's Film Classification and Rating Organization (Eirin) earlier this month.

The staff had delayed the film from January 23, after careful consideration due to the new state of emergency declared in four prefectures in Japan on January 8, and then extended to a total of 11 prefectures. The state of emergency will end on March 7 in Tokyo and surrounding prefectures.

The film had an earlier delay due to concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its spread inside and outside of Japan. The film was originally scheduled to open in Japan on June 27, 2020. Hikaru Utada returns to perform the theme song "One Last Kiss" for the film.

The first three films in the tetralogy, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance, and Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, debuted in 2007, 2009, and 2012 respectively. The three films had new MX4D and 4DX screenings in Japan that opened on December 4, 11, and 18, respectively.

Sources: Khara's Twitter account, Comic Natalie