3 times in a row Miyazaki's new film has broken Japanese records!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

Howl's Moving Castle

"November 22, 2004 "Howl" Breaks Japanese Weekend Box Office Record
From Kyodo Press Flash24:

Toho announced :
'Howl' earned 1,400 million yen (~$13.5 million USD) at the box office in the first day of release and its next day (Nov 20, 21). This is the highest new record at a Japanese movie.

Furthermore, Toho said, "This is a golden chance. We are going to aim at Spectator mobilization of 40 million people and The box office revenue of 50 billion yen."

Thanks to Akito T for posting the news to the MML"

Trailer:
http://www.tzone.org/~llin/clips/Howl_Trailer_20041121.mpg

Review:

http://www.japantimes.com/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?ff20041124a2.htm

Hollywood has buried 2-D feature animation, with the incredible success of Pixar's "The Incredibles" -- $70 million in its opening weekend -- putting a seal on the tomb, so to speak.

In Japan, however, Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli animators are still loyal to the 2-D cause. Why not, given the equally incredible numbers for Miyazaki's 2-D "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)," which grossed 30.8 billion yen in Japan alone in 2001 -- a box-office record for any film here, Hollywood or Japanese. Miyazaki and Ghibli had other reasons for celebration, including an Academy Award for best feature animation -- the first ever awarded.

They may well get a second for "Howl no Ugoku Shiro (Howl's Moving Castle)," Miyazaki's first shojo manga-esque love story, complete with a faux European setting, mousy-but-spunky teenage heroine and androgynously handsome hero, voiced by superstar Takuya Kimura.

Based on a novel of the same title by the British children's author Diana Wynne Jones, "Howl" is less Miyazaki's attempt to wow shojo manga fans (though wowed they will be) than further proof of why his status as the world's greatest living animator is still secure"