The film earned about $35.2 million in China after opening on Wednesday
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© 2023 Studio Ghibli
Entertainment news website Variety reported Thursday that Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's latest feature film The Boy and Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka) earned 254 RMB (about $35.2 million) at Chinese box office, topping the box office after its release on Wednesday. The film earned about 13.8 million US dollars on its first day of release in China.
Compared to the film sequel Godzilla vs. Kong Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the film earned about $5.26 million on the same day Wednesday and about $11 million on Thursday. China recorded the film's biggest international opening at $44 million. Since then, the film has earned about $66 million in China.
The Boy and the Heron opened in China on Wednesday (as opposed to the usual Friday) as the country is celebrating the three-day Qingming Festival dedicated to remembering the dead on June 4 April.
The Boy and the Heron opened in Japan in July 2023, selling 1.003 million tickets and grossing approximately $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). It is the 71st highest-grossing film ever in Japan and the third highest-grossing domestic film in Japan in 2023 with a total revenue of 8.66 billion yen (about 61.4 million USD).
The film ranked No. 1 in its opening weekend at the US box office, with sales of $12,836,313 in its first three days. Variety Target reported that the film is the “first original anime work” to top the US box office..
The film will be available to stream exclusively on Max (formerly HBO Max) in the United States. The streaming service renewed its multi-year US licensing deal with Studio Ghibli.
The film won Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10. It is Miyazaki's second film to win after Spirited Away in 2003. He also received a nomination for Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises.
The film won the Animation of the Year award at the 47th annual Japan Academy Film Awards and won the Best Motion Picture-Animation category at the 81st Golden Globe Awards earlier this year. The film also won awards from the Annie Awards (for story and character animation) and the British Academy Film Awards (for animation). The Alliance of Women Film Journalists awarded the film the Best Animated Feature award in the EDA Awards on December 31. The 78th Mainichi Film Awards announced before the February 14 ceremony that the film will receive the Noburou Oofuji Award, which honors animated works that bring something new. forms of creative expression.
Source: Diversity (Patrick Frater)