The Boy and The Heron tops the Chinese box office with $73 million

“The Boy and the Heron”

Courtesy of TIFF

Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki is as revered in China as he is anywhere else. The 83-year-old Oscar-winning director’s swan song The boy and the heron It opened last Wednesday in China to take advantage of the country’s Qingming public holiday, and by Sunday it had grossed $73 million — more than its totals in both Japan ($61 million) and North America ($46.6 million).

The Studio Ghibli film easily bested the legendary monster movie and the Warner Bros. film Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empirewhich brought in $36 million over the four-day weekend. Godzilla vs. KongThe film’s total revenue now stands at $93.5 million, the most a Hollywood film has grossed in China in several months, according to data from Artisan Gateway.

Chinese ticket app Maoyan is currently in development The boy and the heron To reach $106.5 million Godzilla vs. Kong To end with $121.9 million – but the company’s estimates are often subject to significant revision.

Qingming Holiday in China, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day, is a traditional occasion to pay respect to ancestors. In recent years, the holiday has also become a major movie-going moment. This year’s holiday release window surpassed that of 2021 to become the record holder for most ticket sales.

The boy and the heron The trend in China of moviegoers preferring Japanese animation over Hollywood imports in the category continued. DreamWorks Animation Kung Fu Panda 4, which is nearing the end of its run in China, rose to $42.7 million. This is much better than what most American-made animated films have done recently, but it represents a sharp decline from Kung Fu Panda 3Boffo made $154.3 million in boom times in 2016.

At the same time, Japanese anime was on a steady rise. Last year, the anime Makoto Shinkai was a huge success Suzume It earned $114 million and Toei Animation’s First slam dunk It brought in $93 million. worldwide Fast xThe film, which grossed $138.7 million, was the only imported film to gross more in China in 2023.

The total revenue from current ticket sales in China for 2024 is $2.5 billion, an increase of 6.2 percent over the same period last year.