UPDATE 9/1: Per our insiders, del Toro staying home is “respect for the audience” — and Gunn showing up anyway is a play for life after DC.
Guillermo del Toro says he is not going to Crunchyroll’s Anime Future Forum.
The Oscar winner quote-posted an aggregator’s writeup of the lineup Friday with five words: “Not me. No voy.”
That last part is Spanish for “I’m not going.”
This is the same lineup Crunchyroll itself announced Monday, with del Toro and James Gunn as the twin headliners of its first invite-only industry summit, set for October 7 at the Javits Center ahead of New York Comic Con.
The company’s press materials went out with an official photo of the two directors, and its release promised more than 400 industry attendees.
X has already caught up. Posts promoting del Toro’s appearance now carry a Community Note stating he will not be appearing, citing his own post.
Five Words, Four Days After The Announcement
The timeline here is short.
Variety first reported the lineup Monday. Tuesday, Crunchyroll’s official announcement went wide across the trades with del Toro’s name and face on it.
By Thursday, the announcement had turned into a fan revolt, with “Leave the anime to the Japanese” out-liking The Hollywood Reporter’s own post and Spanish-language anime giant Kudasai writing up the panic over Hollywood names fronting an anime summit.
Friday, del Toro answered: “Not me. No voy.”
No explanation, no follow-up, and no comment from Crunchyroll as of this writing.
That leaves two readings. Either Crunchyroll announced a headliner it never actually locked, or its headliner walked inside a week.
Neither is a good look for a first-year summit that was sold to the trades on his name.
That Leaves James Gunn
Del Toro was the anime credibility on the marquee.
As we noted Thursday, even the crowd telling Hollywood to stay out of anime granted that del Toro has decades of receipts. He is the guy who has spent thirty years evangelizing Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon to Western audiences.
With him out, the top of the bill is Gunn, the DC Studios co-CEO coming to the Javits for anime while Man of Tomorrow sits out NYCC entirely.
Gunn remains on the lineup and has said nothing about the backlash or del Toro’s exit.
The forum is October 7. NYCC opens the next day and runs through October 11.
As of Friday, the most decorated name Crunchyroll announced says he will not be in the building.
