Last December, Studio Khara reported that they'd finally finished the final edits on Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time. Creator and director Hideaki Anno noted that this included the final day of dubbing and posted a photo on social media to market the occasion and finally announced when fans would see the thrilling conclusion of the Evangelion remakes.

And now they're going to have to wait a little bit longer. What was once set to release on January 23 has since been pushed back until after February 7.

Japan has declared a state of emergency due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this declaration, cinemas are delaying theatrical releases to conform with government mandates.

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-"We have taken seriously the situation of the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and the issuance of a state of emergency by the Japanese government, and have carefully considered it," Studio Khara said on their website (as translated by Google). The new release date has been postponed until after the state of emergency expires on February 7, and it will be announced on Studio Khara's website.

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0's soundtrack has also been delayed. Originally scheduled for February 10, a new release date will be confirmed later.

Fans have been waiting almost a decade to see the conclusion of the Evangelion remakes. The first three movies all came out within the span of five years, but after 2012's Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, director Hideaki Anno put the series on hiatus to work on Shin Godzilla.

The first three films largely coincided with the plot of the original '80s anime, but the fourth movie is going to take a different direction. Or at least, that’s how it seems from the theatrical trailer. We’ll have to wait until after February to find out.

Source: Studio Khara, Kotaku

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