Viz Media has confirmed to ICv2 that it will release Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel on July 29th, 2008.  Produced by Studio Pierrot in 2005, Naruto the Movie 2 was directed by Hirotsugu Kawasaki and written by Kawasaki and Yuki Miyata.  The film takes place after episode 160 of the TV series.  The deluxe 2-disc Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel will have an MSRP of $29.98 and will include a second disc with 30 minutes of extras. 

The 96-minute second Naruto movie (five Naruto movies have been released in Japan so far) is of course based on Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto manga, which remains the dominant manga property in the U.S. market.  The Naruto anime is a consistent top five performer on ICv2’s list of the “Top 25 Anime Properties.” 

According to sources at Viz Media the first Naruto movie, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, released here last June with widespread distribution in the mass market, was the best selling Naruto anime sku of 2007 in North America.