Summary
Case Closed,popularly known internationally asDetective Conan, is one of the most iconic franchises in Japanese pop culture. With 25 theatrical films produced over the course of 25 years, the adventurous exploits of the kid-detective are something of a yearly tradition in Japan.
After an initial premiere of both the English sub and dub versions of the film at Anime NYC last weekend, the film arrives on digital video-on-demand VOD on Monday, July 30, 2025. Now, producer TMS Entertainment is bringing one of the most ambitious films in the franchise has finally become available for international audiences—with some adventures in how it got there itself.
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As the 23rd entry in themystery-basedCase Closedfranchise,The Scarlet Bulletwas initially planned for a release in 2020, although that release in Japan was pushed back to 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic. This is especially fitting given that much ofThe Scarlet Bullet’s plot revolves around a fictionalized version of the planned 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed back to 2021 due to the pandemic as well.
Focused on a series of prominent kidnappings on the eve of the World Sports Games, Detective Conan and his team are set to uncover how the crimes are connected to an advanced Japanese bullet train.
Despite the delayed release at a time when theatrical releases were still being impacted by the pandemic,The Scarlet Bulletwas very successful in its initial Asian theatrical run, earning over 1.5 million Japanese ticket sales in its first theatrical week, outgrossinganother iconic anime franchise in Evangelion 3.0, and earning a final gross of over $33 million USD in China as well.
TMS Entertainment sees the 2020s as a period of renewed interest in the juggernaut franchise, with events like the Anime NYC screening, which gathered hundreds of attendees at the convention, continuing to show the appeal ofCase Closed around the globe.
Producing a film on essentially a yearly basis for 25 years (in addition to its 31 seasons worth of televised anime episodes), there’s a lot ofDetective Conancontent to go through. AlthoughThe Scarlet Bulletwas released in 2021, there have been two otherCase Closedfilms released in Japan since then,The Bride of Halloweenin 2022 andThe Black Iron Submarinein 2023. While specific timeframes on the localization of these films are still pending,The Black Iron Submarine’s director,Yuzuru Tachikawa, has remained hot in the theatrical anime scene with his musical anime adaptation,Blue Giant, being distributed in North America by indie animation label GKIDS.
Case Closed: The Scarlet Bulletis out now on digital video-on-demand (VOD) oniTunes,Amazon Prime Video, andGoogle Play.
