Neon announced today that Hirokazu Koreeda’s (“Shoplifters,” “Nobody Knows”) “Sheep in the Box” will be released on July 24, 2026 in New York and Los Angeles followed by a nationwide rollout. The film premiered in competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival. The Palme d’Or winning director approaches the world of AI, preserving his signature humanist storytelling. The release follows NEON’s prior collaboration with Koreeda on “Broker” starring Song Kang Ho (“Parasite”). “Sheep in the Box” stars Haruka Ayase, Daigo, and Rimu Kuwaki. It is produced by Kaoru Matsuzaki and Megumi Bans and a Gaga and Toho production.

Two years after losing their son Kakeru, Otone and her husband Kensuke take into their lives a humanoid from a company that rents humanoids to bereaved families as replacements for lost loved ones. The robot looks and behaves exactly like Kakeru, with Otone embracing its arrival as Kensuke struggles to accept it. Living with “him” seems to restore the flow of time within the family, yet gradually exposes the unspoken wounds and lingering regrets each parent carries after the loss. All the while, he begins to slip away to meet other humanoid children, unnoticed by the parents.

About Neon
In only nine years, Neon has garnered 57 Academy Award nominations, winning Best Picture for Sean Baker’s “Anora” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite.” This year, Neon received 18 Oscar nominations, the second most for any motion picture studio. Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value” and Kleber Mendonca Filho’s “The Secret Agent” were both nominated for best picture, with “Sentimental Value” ultimately winning the award for Best International Film – bringing the studio’s total to 11 wins.

Neon continues to champion bold, risk-taking cinema and has built an impressive streak winning the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, with seven consecutive wins, including this most recent year’s winner “Fjord,” as well as “It Was Just an Accident,” “Anora,” “Parasite,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Titane,” and “Triangle of Sadness.” In 2024, Neon was named The Hollywood Reporter’s Independent Studio of the Year and received the Clio Award for Studio of the Year.

As a burgeoning leader in the production space, Neon’s recent and upcoming in-house productions include: David Robert Mitchell’s “They Follow;” Alex Ullom’s “4 x 4: the Event;” Matt Johnson’s “The Vice Guide;” and Arie and Chuko Esiri’s “Clarissa,” which had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight during this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Neon has grossed over half-a-billion at the box office, highlights include Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs,” which was the highest grossing independent film of 2024 at $75 million domestically, and his follow-up feature “The Monkey,” Neon’s second highest opening. The studio is currently in post on its fourth Perkins film, “The Young People.” Their upcoming slate includes notable auteurs such as Chloe Domont and Cristian Mungiu. Neon’s recent releases include “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie;” Baz Luhrmann’s “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert;” Steven Soderbergh’s “The Christophers;” and “Hokum” starring Adam Scott. Up next: Alex Ullom’s “It Ends;” Sundance hit “Leviticus;” “Her Private Hell;” James Grey’s “Paper Tiger,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “All of A Sudden;” and Bong Joon Ho’s “Ally.”

Neon’s library spans more than 140 films, including Academy Award nominees “Sirat,” “Arco,” “Perfect Days,” “Robot Dreams,” “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” “Moonage Daydream,” and “Flee,” which made history becoming the first film to score an impressive trifecta of Oscar nominations; double Oscar nominee “The Worst Person in The World,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and triple Oscar nominee and winner “I, Tonya.”