Taking place* before the End of Z Arc, the final arc of the Dragon Ball manga, this film is the overall 21st anime film in the franchise, with series creator Akira Toriyama returning to work on the film's story, screenplay and character designs. Planning for the film started in 2018 prior to the release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and that the film will feature an unexpected character, and its goal is to tell a "large-scale story", which will charter through, "unexplored territory in terms of the visual aesthetics to give the audience an amazing ride."
* Takes place after the events of the Dragon Ball Super: Broly movie, and after the events of the Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga, and likely after Granolah the Survivor Saga from the Dragon Ball Super manga.