Steamboy was initially to be a three 40-minute OVA series, but a theatrical release was decided instead. The movie took nine years to create with a budget of 2.4 billion yen, making it the most expensive Japanese animated film produced for its time. It won the 2004 Best Animated Feature Film at the Sitges Film Festival. The film was released on DVD in Japan by Bandai Visual on April 14, 2005.