Your Name Earns $1.6 Million In U.S Opening Weekend

This week the anime sensation Your Name opened in theaters in the United States. After an impressive opening Friday for an independent animated film, with a gross over $600,000, the film ended the first weekend in the U.S. at $1.6 Million. Even though that does not sound like that much for an opening weekend of a film, it is important to remember that the film was only featured in only 303 theaters, and had next to no marketing in North America. The film ranked at #13 for the weekend and earned an average of $5,281 per theater in the 303 theaters over the weekend.

Your Name has been certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, currently sitting at 97%, and has had raving reviews from fans all around the world. If you are unfamiliar with story Funimation describes the story as the following:

The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki's body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.

When a dazzling comet lights up the night's sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection—a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn't the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?

The film is currently in American theaters and Funimation is hosting the film in the original Japanese-language with English subtitles, but will also in an English Dub, with a newly dubbed English soundtrack. The entire soundtrack was recorded by the Japanese band, Radwimps, entirely in English, and has not been debuted in any other releases of the movie. "Melody and lyrics must be something inseparable for RADWIMPS. For all that, I cannot respect and thank them enough for making these wonderful English versions to entertain international audience," said Makoto Shinkai, writer and director of Your Name.

Box Office Mojo has estimated the film's current worldwide total to be $330,293,624.