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Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature film The Boy and the Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, or literally How do you live?) has sold over 4.95 million tickets and grossed around 7.41 billion yen ( about $50.6 million) as of Monday.
The film sold 1,003 million tickets and grossed about $13.2 million in its first three days of opening in Japan. The film sold 1.353 million tickets and grossed 2.149 billion yen (approximately $15.53 million) during its long weekend from Friday to Monday (July 17 is a Marines Day holiday). in Japan).
The film opened concurrently on IMAX with a joint release in Japan on July 14. The film earned more than Miyazaki’s acclaimed 2001 Oscar-winning film Spirited Away in its first four days of release and earned 50% more than his 2013 film The Wind Rises. According to entertainment news website Deadline, the film has surpassed $1.7 million from 44 IMAX theaters, a new record for opening in three days.
The film is the first Studio Ghibli film to be released concurrently IMAX. The movie is also showing in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Cinema and DTS:X.
GKIDS has licensed the film and will release it in North American theaters later this year. The New York Film Festival (NYFF) will screen the film’s US premiere as an Official Selection in the Spotlight selection. The 61st NYFF will run from September 29 to October 15.
The film will have its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which opens the event on September 7 at Roy Thomson Hall. This will be the first time the festival opens with an animated film as well as the first time with a Japanese film. The San Sebastian Film Festival (SSIFF) will screen its European premiere at Donostia-San Sebastián’s Kursaal Auditorium in Spain on September 22 following the event’s opening gala. This will be Miyazaki’s fourth film to screen at SSIFF and his first time participating in the event’s Official Selection Round.
The story takes place during World War II. After Mahito lost his mother in the Tokyo bombing, he and his father moved to the countryside. There, Mahito’s father remarried to his late mother’s pregnant sister. As Mahito struggles with his situation, he meets a talking heron and enters another world based on the promise that he can see his mother again.
Soma Santoki, 18, voices the main character Mahito Maki. Takuya Kimura made a special appearance. The cast also includes Masaki Suda, Kou Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Sawako Agawa, Karen Takizawa, Shinobu Ōtake, Jun Kunimura, Kaoru Kobayashi and Shohei Hino.
Miyazaki is credited with original work, in addition to directing the film and writing the screenplay. Takeshi Honda (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Rebuild of Evangelion) is the animation director. Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) is composing the music. Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki is the producer. Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man, My Hero AcadeKaren, March Comes in like a Lion) performed the theme song “Chikyūgi”(Globe).
Producer Suzuki Studio Ghibli revealed in June that the film will have no trailer before its release. The film also does not have any TV commercials or newspaper ads. Prior to the film’s release, the studio did not reveal the plot synopsis, the voice cast, or most of the film’s staff.
Miyazaki inspired the film from the novel How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino in 1937. He added that the book is a story of great significance to the protagonist of his film. Algonquin Young Readers released the book in English in October 2021.
Miyazaki officially revealed the film in 2017. Suzuki reported in April 2017 that Miyazaki had been drawing the storyboard for the project since July 2016.
Source: Mantan Web
by Mainichi Shimbun