Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki recently confirmed that studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is currently planning his next project. He also stated in the Ghibli Asemamire radio show (Where the comments originated) that he doesn't yet know the details of the work.

Last June, Suzuki indicated that Miyazaki was planning animated shorts for the Ghibli Museum as his next projects, and that he was looking at a classic folk tale about sumo-wrestling mice. At the Venice International Film Festival last August, Miyazaki himself said that his next project was at least three years off - at which point, he will be over 70.

Suzuki also announced that there was a 14-hour making-of documentary on Miyazaki's latest film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, in the works. The documentary will include footage already aired on NHK Professional and other programs, in addition to footage NHK filmed over the past two years. A similar documentary revolving around Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime wa Koshite Umareta) was made, which spanned 6 hours and 40 minutes.

Nikkei financial news reported last month that Ghibli intends to open Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea in North American theaters this summer. Pixar and Disney's John Lasseter (Who worked on Toy Story and Cars, a longtime friend and colleague of Miyazaki's), will produce the North American release, as he did Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away. Suzuki announced last June that the North American release is also being handled by co-producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Back to the Future, ).