Netflix has announced they’ve picked up Studio Ghibli and famed director Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron for worldwide streaming.

The new deal for The Boy and the Heron on Netflix comes after HBO Max signed a deal to exclusively stream the film alongside the rest of Ghibli’s catalog, in the United States and Japan (via Hollywood Reporter).

To be clear, The Boy and the Heron will be streamable on Netflix in all supported countries outside of the United States and Japan – the latter two are where HBO Max has the exclusive streaming rights. A date for when The Boy and the Heron comes to Netflix worldwide will be announced later.

It’s worth pointing out these exclusive streaming deals don’t affect direct-to-digital retailers like Amazon Prime Video, Movies Anywhere, and Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu).

The new deal brings the other 20+ Studio Ghibli films to Netflix, again only in worldwide countries where HBO Max doesn’t have exclusive streaming rights. It’s also worth noting Netflix subscribers can stream these films in non-HBO Max exclusive countries if they use a VPN (like most region-locked content).

A semi-autobiographical fantasy film by Miyazaki himself, The Boy and the Heron was supposed to be his final film (for the umpteenth time), only for the legendary animator to cancel his retirement again.

Miyazaki’s first feature-length film in 10 years, The Boy and the Heron topped the global box offices when it premiered and went on to win the 2024 Oscar for best animated feature.