NEW — Aug. 24, 2026: Crunchyroll has revealed a heavyweight speaker lineup for its first Anime Future Forum, adding Guillermo del Toro, James Gunn and the directors of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse to the one-day summit in New York.
The invitation-only event is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the Javits Convention Center, immediately before New York Comic Con. Crunchyroll announced the forum earlier this month; Monday's actual development is the roster of filmmakers, executives and creators who will take part.
Anime is getting a boardroom, but hopefully not boardroom energy
According to Variety, the program will be organized around four themes: fandom, technology, storytelling and intellectual-property protection. That puts creative questions beside the practical ones facing a medium that has become a global entertainment business without losing its extremely online fan culture.
Del Toro and Gunn are among the headline speakers. Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson, who are directing Sony Pictures Animation's upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, are also set to appear.
The announced participants extend beyond film directors. Variety says Olympic figure skater Amber Glenn, rapper Big Sean and creator Jordan Howlett will join the program, along with anime-industry and technology executives.
Why Crunchyroll is staging the forum now
Crunchyroll previously described the gathering as a place for leaders from animation, gaming, music, film and technology to discuss anime's creative, cultural and technological future. The company positioned the summit as a complement to New York Comic Con rather than another fan convention.
That distinction matters. The Javits Center will soon be full of cosplay, collectibles and people who have very strong opinions about power scaling. The Anime Future Forum is aimed at the people deciding what gets financed, distributed, licensed and protected before any of that reaches the convention floor.
No public ticket sale has been announced; the event remains invitation-only. For now, the confirmed news is the date, venue, discussion tracks and newly disclosed lineup—not a promise of a public del Toro-versus-Gunn anime debate, however much the internet would enjoy one.
Sources: Variety, published Aug. 24, 2026 at 8:01 a.m. CT; Animation World Network's original forum announcement.
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