Neon releases first trailer for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s AI family drama “Sheep in the Box,” opening in U.S. theaters July 17

Neon has released the first trailer for “Sheep in the Box,” a new feature by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The distributor said the film opens in U.S. theaters on July 17, with the trailer offering a first look at a family-centered story built around advanced technology brought into a private home.

Kore-eda, a Palme d’Or winner, directs the film, which is described as an AI family drama. In the premise outlined in coverage, a Japanese couple welcomes an AI-powered android re-creation of their deceased son into their home, establishing the central tension of the story.

The trailer arrives as the film moves from the festival circuit to mainstream distribution. Neon’s release date places the film on the summer theatrical calendar, positioning it for audiences who seek international art-house cinema with a genre-adjacent premise that centers on the emotional consequences of realistic artificial counterparts.

Details in the coverage focus on the characters’ domestic setting and the way the android figure is integrated into daily life. The film’s setup, according to the description, centers on how a bereaved family navigates the presence of an engineered replica of their son, and what that means for memory, grief, and relationships within the home.

The production is also notable for the way it ties a high-concept premise to human-scale stakes, an approach associated with Kore-eda’s reputation for intimate storytelling. With “Sheep in the Box,” the filmmaker’s latest work is framed as a family story rather than a technology thriller, focusing on the practical and emotional implications of creating an artificial version of someone who is gone.

Neon has not indicated in the available report whether the film will be expanded beyond July 17 or how widely it will play at launch. However, the trailer release indicates a standard theatrical rollout, with promotional materials designed to support box office entry after the Cannes premiere.

After the trailer’s debut, the next public checkpoints for audiences will be the U.S. theatrical opening on July 17 and any subsequent announcements from Neon and festival partners about additional screenings or distribution plans. Viewers will then be able to assess how the film translates its AI re-creation premise into full narrative structure and character development.

The film’s festival-to-theater path also underscores the role of U.S. distributors like Neon in bringing recent international festival titles to broader audiences. If the film plays across multiple markets, it will likely shape how American audiences engage with a Cannes-premiered work built around themes of family loss and the reach of artificial intelligence in private life.