After almost 27 years, The End of Evangelion returned to theaters for two nights only. Released by GKIDS, the producers behind the film, this was the first time (and last time) the film would ever be theatrically shown in the United States.
Written and directed by Hideaki Anno as an alternate ending to the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion, acting as a rewrite of the last two episodes, episode 25 “The Ending World” and episode 26 “The Beast That Shouted ‘I’ at the Heart of the World.”
The film, alongside the show, is available for streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV.
The Evangelion series includes one show, and five movies. The other four films are referred to as the rebuilds, consisting of Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (2007), Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (2009), Evangelion: 3.33 You Can (Not) Redo (2012), and Evangelion 3.0 + 1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (2021). There are also several games and manga stemming from the series
The film was shown at several Cinemark locations, including Cinemark on Carefree Circle, Cinemark Tinseltown, and Cinemark Tinseltown Pueblo. It was also shown at AMC Highlands Ranch and AMC Arapahoe Crossing 16.
All showings used the original Japanese dub with English subtitles. Shea Johnson, Class of 2025, prefers the subtitled version, explaining that “the voice lines don’t ever hit as hard as they do in Japanese.”
Almost every seat was sold out at the Carefree Circle location, aside from the seats at the very front of the theater. Shea remarked that “this is the only showing they’ve ever done and will do of Evangelion in theaters in North America. So, I think [it was] a really special experience.”
