The record-breaking success of The Boy and the Heron in the USA risks being nothing compared to what the Oscar-winning film by Hayao Miyazaki is preparing to bring home to Japan from China.
Studio Ghibli’s new film opened in China on Wednesday and debuted with an impressive $13.7 million, surpassing Godzilla and Kong: New Empire. the next day, Thursday, Miyazaki’s masterpiece set a new record for the biggest daily performance ever for a non-Chinese animated film, earning a whopping $23.7 million, breaking a record previously held by Disney’s Frozen 2.
The Boy and the Heron was published midweek to take advantage of the Chinese public holiday of Qingming, traditionally an occasion to pay homage to one’s ancestors which in recent years has also become an important event for families in the Chinese film industry calendar. Thanks to this double start of almost 40 million, analysts now predict that The Boy and the Heron will fetch over $100 million in China during its theatrical run, which would make it Hayao Miyazaki’s highest-grossing film ever in the country: for comparison, the film grossed $46.6 million in the US, the studio’s best ever Ghibli is the third best for a Japanese animated film; furthermore, considering that in Japan the film grossed 61 million, very early China could become the world’s largest single market for The Boy and the Heron.
Last year, also in China, Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume grossed $114 million and Toei Animation’s The First Slam Dunk grossed $93 million. Only Universal’s Fast X did better, with $138.7 million.
For other content, find out where to stream The Boy and The Heron in Italy.
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