The Boy and the Heron is quickly taking over the awards scene with one big nomination and win after another, but it turns out its also one of Studio Ghibli’s most commercially successful too as it’s now the fourth highest-grossing anime film ever to release in North America! The Boy and the Heron was first announced as legendary creator Hayao Miyazaki’s final work. Ghibli themselves further played coy with the new release as they refused to showcase any promotional materials from the film before it released. This mystery approach paid off with a very successful initial launch in Japan.
As The Boy and the Heron began its release in North America (which included a title change for its release outside of Japan), this success continued to even the latest week of its release in theaters. From the January 5-7 weekend, The Boy and the Heron grossed $1.7 million USD in theaters. This brought its total in North American to $39.7 million USD for its few weeks of release thus far, and with this amount now makes it the fourth highest-grossing anime film in North America.
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The Boy and the Heron N.A. Box Office
The Boy and the Heron‘s North America box office gross brings it to fourth place behind the highest with Pokemon: The First Movie at $85.7 million USD, second highest with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Mugen Train Arc at $49.5 million USD, and third highest Pokemon the Movie 2000 with $43.8 million USD. As The Boy and the Heron continues to work its way through theaters and continues to earn nominations and big awards, this number has a chance of going up.
There could still be a few showings in your area if you’re interested and Studio Ghibli and GKIDS tease what to expect from The Boy and The Heron as such, “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.”
How do you feel about The Boy and the Heron‘s success at the box office? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!
