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The Boy and the Heron Film Tops Chinese Box Office in 1st 2 Days
posted on by Alex Mateo
In comparison, the Godzilla vs. Kong film sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, the film earned about US$5.26 million that same Wednesday and about US$11 million on Thursday. China recorded the film's biggest international opening earnings at US$44 million. The film has since made approximately US$66 million in China.
The Boy and the Heron opened in China on Wednesday (as opposed to the standard Friday) since the country is celebrating the three-day Qingming Festival devoted to remembering the deceased on April 4-6.
The Boy and the Heron opened in Japan in July 2023, and sold 1.003 million tickets and earned about US$13.2 million in its first three days in Japan. The film sold 1.353 million tickets and earned 2.149 billion yen (about US$15.53 million) in its Friday-Monday long weekend (July 17 was the Marine Day holiday in Japan). It is the #71 highest-grossing film ever in Japan, and the third highest-grossing domestic film in Japan in 2023 with an 8.66 billion yen (about US$61.4 million) gross.
The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend in the U.S. box office, with an earning of US$12,836,313 in its first three days. Variety reported that the film is the "first original anime production" to top the U.S. box office..
The film will stream exclusively on Max (formerly HBO Max) in the United States. The streaming service is extended its multiyear U.S. licensing deal with Studio Ghibli.
The film won Best Animated Feature Film in the 96th Academy Awards ceremony on March 10. This is Miyazaki's second film to win after Spirited Away in 2003. He also received nominations for Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises.
The film won Animation of the Year in the 47th annual Japan Academy Film Prizes and won the Best Motion Picture - Animated category at the 81st Golden Globes Awards earlier this year. The film also won awards from the Annie Awards (for storyboarding and character animation) and the British Academy Film Awards (for animated film). The Alliance of Women Film Journalists gave it the Best Animated Film award in its EDA Awards on December 31. The 78th Mainichi Film Awards announced ahead of its February 14 ceremony that the film would receive the Noburou Oofuji Award, which honors animated works that offer new forms of creative expression.
Source: Variety (Patrick Frater)
