Long awaited Yuri on Ice movie canceled for good

The long awaited Yuri on Ice movie has finally been announced as canceled for good.

Yuri on Ice is one of the most popular sports anime of all time. The upcoming Yuri on Ice movie is no longer in production, as declared by MAPPA, the studio behind the project. After seven years in production, it’s been shut down for good with no expectation of a future revival.

Focusing on the sport of figure skating, the anime was critically acclaimed for its depiction of mental health and LGBTQ+ representation. Critics and viewers also lauded the honest story and the fluent animation of the series.

After its grand success, MAPPA had announced a prequel movie in 2017. The film, titled Yuri on Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescence, was to be about Viktor Nikiforov during the early years of his career as a world champion figure skater.

However, there had been very few updates on the production ever since. Despite the demand and hype from the anime fandom, there hadn’t been much development of the anime movie. It wasn’t until 2019 that MAPPA gave the world a glimpse of what was to come in the Yuri on Ice movie.

A teaser trailer of the film was released in January 2019 in Japan. However, the teaser trailer wasn’t made available to the world until November 2020. Though the release of the teaser seemed promising, it was followed by no further update.

Fans have been waiting for the Yuri on Ice movie for years, hoping to see the similar flawless animation and a heartfelt story. But the progress of the project was slow enough to kill much of the hype around it. 

In April 2024, MAPPA finally came clean and declared the movie to be canceled for good. The studio posted an apology on the official website for the movie. Thanking the viewers for supporting Yuri on Ice, the studio apologized for not being able to meet the expectations of fans.

“The production committee and staff have been in constant discussions to create and to deliver the movie, but due to various circumstances, we have had to make the difficult decision to stop the production,” the studio states, explaining the reasons behind the cancellation. 

Though the news came as a blow to many fans who were eagerly waiting for it, there was also some expectation the Yuri on Ice movie to fizzle out after so little development in so many years. But we all equally lament the cancellation of such a promising film.

Check out our list of upcoming anime for shows and movies that are due to come out still.