LogInHayao Miyazaki's anime tops the chart.
Hayao Miyazaki's not-final film The Boy and the Heron was first released in Japan in July and is now gradually spreading across global movie theaters. The director has produced a successful story once again and managed to set a new record: The Boy and the Heron earned $12.8 million in its opening weekend, becoming the first original anime to take first place in the North American box office chart.
The Boy and the Heron is inspired by Genzaburo Yoshino's 1937 novel called How Do You Live? but doesn't directly adapt it. It follows Mahito, a boy who finds a copy of this book and then enters a mystical tower, which leads him to an alternate world full of magic.
Image credit: Studio Ghibli
Overall, the movie received $97 million globally, with $56 million coming from Japan, which is fantastic considering Miyazaki's latest masterpiece didn't have any promotion before its release.
As The Hollywood Reporter noted, Studio Ghibli wisely chose to launch the film on a weekend with no new big releases from the major Hollywood studios, and this surely helped its ticket sales.
The movie has a 7.6 rating on IMDb, while Rotten Tomatoes users have given it a 90% score so far, although critics were more generous and stopped at 96%.
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