Galaxy Express 999 Boards a New Toei Theatrical Film With Rintarō

Nearly half a century after the space train first roared across the big screen, Galaxy Express 999 is clearing the tracks again. Toei Animation confirmed a brand-new theatrical anime for Leiji Matsumoto’s landmark franchise, with veteran director Rintarō—who helmed the 1979 feature, Adieu Galaxy Express 999, and later Metropolis—crafting the original story draft. The studio is marking its 70th anniversary as it takes the wheel.

Leijisha, the company founded by Matsumoto and now led by his daughter Makiko Matsumoto, framed the project as the realization of a long-held dream. In an official statement, she noted that animation features were among the creator’s earliest ambitions, and that a new theatrical chapter roughly fifty years after the first movie feels like the silver rails still stretching into the unknown.

The announcement stops short of a release date, final director credit, or cast, but the pedigree alone is enough to light up the otaku timeline. The original saga—orphan Tetsuro Hoshino and enigmatic Maetel racing planet to planet for a mechanical body—helped define Japanese SF anime in the late ’70s and early ’80s, spanning a hit TV series, multiple films, and a manga that still echoes in exhibitions and retellings today.

For fans who grew up with Godaigo’s theme and those starry night windows, this is more than nostalgia bait. It is a rare chance for one of anime’s foundational space operas to speak in a modern theatrical language while keeping its most trusted storyteller in the engine room. Stay locked to the official channels for the next stop.

Official: Official site · X