Danica Davidson
December 11, 2023 
Hayao Miyazaki’s new movie The Boy and the Heron hit American theaters on Friday, and not only did it top the country’s weekend box office, but it made new records. This is the second time an anime film has been number one in America’s box office (the first was Demon Slayer), and this is the first time an original anime story did this well.
The Boy and the Heron (known as in Japanese as Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, which translates as How Do You Live?) brought in $12.8 million for its opening. That’s more than twice what The Wind Rises brought in during the whole time it was in U.S. theaters. The Hollywood Reporter did point out that The Boy and the Heron was not competing against any new large Hollywood movies being released this weekend. That said, it still beat out the relatively-new Hollywood movies, with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds and Snakes taking second place. Third place went to the Japanese film Godzilla Minus One, which means two properties from Japan both scored in the top five.
A good portion of The Boy and the Heron’s audience was made up of young adults. Eight out of 10 American ticket-goers this weekend were between 18 years old and 34 years old. The movie is being offered both subbed and dubbed on the big screen.
GKIDS gave this description for The Boy and the Heron:
A young boy named Mahito
yearning for his mother
ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead.
There, death comes to an end,
and life finds a new beginning.A semi-autobiographical fantasy
about life, death, and creation, in tribute to friendship,
from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki.Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and the Heron is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award®-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki’s long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film “Spinning Globe” was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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