Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of The Secret World Of Arietty and Mary And The Witch’s Flower, is already making his next animated film for Studio Ponoc.

Studio Ponoc, the Japanese animation house founded by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, has its latest feature film in UK cinemas from the 28th June. Called The Imaginary, it’s based on the children’s book by British author A F Harold, and it’s the disarming tale of a young girl, her imaginary friend Rudger, and how their encounter with a imagination-hunting villain named Mr Bunting.

We sat down to talk with its producer, Nishimura, last week, and with time running short, we quickly asked what Studio Ponoc is up to next, given nothing has been officially announced. To our surprise, Nishimura revealed that his studio already has its next animated project in production – it’s a feature film which he says will be “quite epic and action-filled.