Square Enix appears to be pulling out all the stops for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth ahead of its February release. To get players excited for the next installment of the remake trilogy, the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children will come to a limited number of movie theaters. It will play on February 21st in English and February 22nd in Japanese with subtitles.
Before screenings of Advent Children, a short film will play about the development of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The news comes courtesy of Final Weapon, which shares that the film will include “new interviews with the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth development team and Advent Children creators alongside action-packed gameplay from the game.” It appears this short film will last around 14 minutes, if one holds up the 206 minute runtime of the film against the 220 minutes listed for screenings.
A sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII, 2005’s Advent Children tells the story of Cloud and Tifa living in Midgar after the events of the game, when a mysterious illness threatens the lives of those around them. The 2009 complete edition adds extra scenes, and will serve as the version played during the February screenings. In an interview with GamesRadar, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed that the new game will still “link up with Advent Children, that is going to be part of canon.”
So while a little out of order for those who have only played Final Fantasy VII Remake, Advent Children will still tie into the new games. Square Enix has yet to officially announce the film screenings. However, tickets are currently available on both Fandango and Atom Tickets in the US.
The film will screen in the US and Japan. At this time, Advent Children screenings do not appear to be available in other territories. While not everyone will get to attend the special screenings of the film, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will receive a wide release on February 29th, 2024 for PlayStation 5.