Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron Tops the Box Office
For the first time in Hayao Miyazaki's career, the 82-year-old is number one at the North American box office. Miyazaki's latest film, The Boy and the Heron, debuted with $12.8 million, according to studio estimates.
The Boy and the Heron is the third anime to ever top the box office in US and Canadian theaters, and the first original anime to do so. The film, which is playing in both subtitled and dubbed versions, is also the first fully foreign film to land at the top of the domestic box office this year.
The English dub version of The Boy and the Heron features the voices of Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, Dave Bautista and Mark Hamill. In Japan, its title translates to "How Do You Live?"
The movie collected $56 million in Japan despite zero advertising. Studio Ghibli decided to release the film without trailers, ads or billboards.
For years, The Boy and the Heron was expected to be Miyazaki's last movie. But just as it was making its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Junichi Nishioka, Studio Ghibli president, said the previously retired Miyazaki has begun working toward another film.
The Boy and the Heron wasn't the only Japanese film that landed among the top movies in theaters over the weekend. Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One followed up its debut last weekend with $8.3 million for Toho Studios. The movie dropped just 27% in its second weekend of release, bringing its total to $25 million.
That allowed Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes to take second place, with an estimated $9.4 million in its fourth weekend of release.
Wonka, one of the holiday season's most anticipated releases, began its international run with $43.2 million from 37 international markets. The film, starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by Paul King, is expected to lead US and Canada ticket sales next weekend.
