Images provided by GKIDS
© 2023 Studio Ghibli
The New York Film Critics Circle announced the winners of their 89th annual awards on Thursday, with Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film The Boy and the Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, or meaning Black is How Do You Live?) won the award for Best Animated Film. The film competes with Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume, as well as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Robot Dreams and Elemental.
GKIDS has licensed the film and will release it in North American theaters on December 8, with a preview commitment on November 22. Screenings will include an English dub along with screenings Has Japanese audio and English subtitles.
The film had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), being the event’s opening film on September 7 at Roy Thomson Hall. This marked the first time the festival opened with an animated film as well as the first time for a Japanese film. The San Sebastian Film Festival (SSIFF) screened its European premiere at Donostia-San Sebastián’s Kursaal Auditorium in Spain on September 22 following a gala opening the event. This marks Miyazaki’s fourth film to be screened at SSIFF and the first time his film has participated in the event’s Official Selection. The festival honored Miyazaki with the Donostia Award for career achievement. The film opened the 2023 Animation Is Film Festival, which took place at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese 6 Theater from October 18 to October 22. The Boston Independent Film Festival screened the film on October 23. Karenmi Film Festival’s Gems 2023 will screen the film on October 23. November 4 at 4:30pm EDT at Silverspot Cinema 12.
The film opened in Japan on July 14 and sold 1.003 million tickets and earned approximately US$13.2 million in its first three days of release in Japan. The film sold 1.353 million tickets and grossed 2.149 billion yen (about $15.53 million) over the long weekend from Friday to Monday (July 17 is a Maritime holiday in Japan). The Boy and the Heron earned a total of 8,333,397,800 yen (about $55.60 million). This is the 74th highest-grossing film ever in Japan.
The film is Studio Ghibli’s first to receive a simultaneous IMAX release. The film is also shown in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Cinema and DTS:X.
Miyazaki is credited as the author of the original work, in addition to directing the film and writing the script. Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) composed the music. Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man, My Hero AcadeKaren, March Comes in like a Lion) performed the theme song”Chikyūgi”(Globe).
Sources: Gold Rush (Paul Sheehan), Variety Films (Clayton Davis)
