Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron soars to top of North America box office with record $17.2m
LOS ANGELES – The Boy And The Heron, the latest movie by celebrated Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, topped the North American box office over the weekend with an estimated take of US$12.8 million (S$17.2 million), industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Dec 10.
That marked “the highest opening weekend for a Studio Ghibli film”, Exhibitor Relations said in a statement. It is the first time the 82-year-old anime master’s movie debuts atop the North American box office.
The Boy And The Heron is also the first original anime production to lead the North American box office and the first international production to do so in 2023.
The film depicts the life of Mahito, an 11-year-old boy who leaves Tokyo after the death of his mother in a fire to live with his father in the countryside.
Mahito then meets a grey heron who becomes his guide in an epic where the mysteries of life – a hallmark of Miyazaki’s tales, which include classics such as Spirited Away (2001) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) – unfold one after the other.
In another universe, Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes continued its run on the podium for a fourth consecutive weekend.
The prequel to the dystopian saga of the same name, taken from the series of novels by American author Suzanne Collins, recounts the youth of Coriolanus Snow, the future dictator of the saga. It raked in an estimated US$9.4 million between Dec 8 and Dec 10.
Another Japanese movie, Godzilla Minus One, directed by filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki and produced by Toho Studios, came in third place for the second weekend in a row, with US$8.3 million dollars.
Universal’s animated musical comedy Trolls Band Together (US$6.2 million) and Wish, the latest film from Disney Studios, closed the top five with US$5.3 million.
Rounding up the top 10 were Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce (US$5 million), Napoleon (US$4.2 million), Waitress (US$3.2 million), Animal (US$2.3 million) and The Shift (US$2.1 million). – AFP
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