Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch will hit selected big screens in the US, and premiere digitally on WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, on 5 February.

The CG-animated feature is the legendary Japanese animation studio’s first feature in four years. Earwig and the Witch will release in select cinema halls in the US on 3 February, in both subtitled and English-dubbed versions, through Fathom Events.

GKIDS Films, which handles North American distribution for Studio Ghibli, took to Twitter to announce the premiere dates.

Directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Academy Award winner Hayao Miyazaki, Earwig and the Witch is based on the children’s novel by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle). The English-language voice cast of the film includes Richard E. Grant, Kacey Musgraves and Dan Stevens.

The synopsis reads: In 1990s England, Earwig, a 10-year-old orphan girl who grew up without knowing that she is a witch’s daughter, is taken from the orphanage by a strange duo and starts living with them.

Studio Ghibli is known worldwide for its animated movies such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke.