At the World Cosplay Summit in Nagoya, the staff of Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale announced that the film would be screened worldwide in about 1000 theaters.

Following the announcement, the staff streamed a trailer for the film on multiple screens simultaneously. The trailer was streamed with Japanese, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Thai subs all at the same time.

The trailer was streamed a month ago by Aniplex USA, but you can watch it again below.

A prologue for the film is provided by Aniplex:

In 2022, the world of virtual reality was upended by the arrival of a new invention from a genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba. Called NerveGear, it was the first full-dive system and with it, came endless possibilities to VRMMORPGs.

In 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn’t have a full-dive function like its predecessors. Instead, it uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into the game. It is safe, user-friendly and lets users play while they are conscious, making it an instant hit on the market. The most popular game on the system is “Ordinal Scale” (aka: OS), an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma.

Asuna and the gang have already been playing OS for a while, by the time Kirito decides to join them. They’re about to find out that Ordinal Scale isn’t all fun and games…

• Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya
• Haruka Tomatsu as Asuna/Asuna Yuuki
• Miyuki Sawashiro as Sinon/Shino Asada
• Ayana Taketatsu as Leafa/Suguha Kirigaya
• Kanae Itou as Yui
• Rina Hidaka as Silica/Keiko Ayano
• Ayahi Takagaki as Lisbeth/Rika Shinozaki
• Hiroaki Hirata as Klein/Ryotaro Tsuboi
• Hiroki Yasumoto as Agil/Andrew Gilbert Mills
• Koichi Yamadera as Akihiko Kayaba

Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale is set to screen in 150 theaters in Japan. The film’s run in Japan will have a tour with appearances by both the cast and staff. Limited edition merchandise will also be available during the film’s run in Japan.

SOURCES: 1, 2