Make no mistake: the king has returned. Because after a Japanese release this summer boldly moving on the notion of “no promo”, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy And The Heron made its US debut at the box office – and immediately hit the top spot. The animation legend’s long-awaited comeback movie, arriving 10 years after his supposed retirement with The Wind Rises, has proved an instant smash, making waves with a major international release that has brought Studio Ghibli fans flocking to cinemas. How do you live? Exactly like this.
In its opening weekend, Miyazaki’s bold fantasy anime film made $12.8 million in the States – the first anime film to debut on the #1 spot on the US box office charts, and a rare international film to break through to mainstream American audiences in this way. It perhaps helps that, as per Ghibli’s other releases, the film has a stellar voice cast for the Western dub, with the likes of Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh, Willem Dafoe and Gemma Chan lending their talents to the film. Perhaps it’s the seismic cinematic event of Miyazaki making a movie few expected to ever exist; maybe it’s the outstanding reviews; maybe it’s the impact of Ghibli’s films hitting streaming services like Netflix in recent years. Either way, it’s a major hit for Ghibli. All that, and Japan’s other huge hit Godzilla Minus One has continued to perform in a big way in the US on its second weekend – coming in at #3, making its American haul a cool $25.3 million overall.
It remains to be seen if The Boy And The Heron will have a similarly massive launch with UK audiences – it arrives here on Boxing Day, and will also receive an IMAX release on 5 January. Maybe get your tickets now to avoid disappointment. (Trust us – you won’t regret it.)