Hayao Miyazaki’s “How Do You Live?” No. 1 in the U.S. “Gojira 1.0” also No. 3, “Why Japanese Films Are Doing So Well”. | FRIDAY DIGITAL

Hayao Miyazaki’s “How Do You Live?” No. 1 in the U.S. “Gojira 1.0” also No. 3, “Why Japanese Films Are Doing So Well”.

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Hayao Miyazaki’s Animated Feature Film “How Do You Live?

Hayao Miyazaki’s animated feature film “How Do You Live?

According to the U.S. box office website Box Office Mojo, “How Do You Live?” (English title: The Boy and the Heron) topped the North American box office with $12,972,683 (approximately 1.882 billion yen) for the three-day weekend from December 8 to 10.

The film also won the New York Film Critics Association Awards (November 30), Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (December 10), Boston Film Critics Association Awards (December 10), Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (December 12), and Las Vegas Film Critics Association Awards (December 13) for Best Animated Film.

In addition, the film was nominated in the Best Animated Film category at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, the prelude to the Academy Awards, along with Makoto Shinkai’s “Suzume no Dokkiri” (Suzume’s Doorstep). Attention will be focused on the award ceremony on January 7 (local time) next year, when the winning films will be announced. The Washington Post said.

The Washington Post called it “a magical, otherworldly tale.

The Washington Post described the film as “a magical, otherworldly tale,” and it was highly acclaimed in the U.S. as well, leading to its success as the top-grossing film at the weekend box office in North America.

It has also surpassed “Dragon Ball Super Super Hero,” which was released in August last year, to become the number one foreign film of all time at the North American weekend box office. Incidentally, the film was released in Japan in July and had grossed 8.601 billion yen by the end of last week.

Also, “Godzilla Minus One” (English title: Godzilla Minus One) maintained its third place with $8,591,413 (approximately 1.25 billion yen), following the previous week. The film, the 37th in the “Godzilla” series, became the highest-grossing foreign live-action film in the U.S. on a single day.

It is unusual for a Japanese film to dominate the No. 1 and No. 3 spots in the North American movie market over the weekend, ahead of the hottest Hollywood productions.

This is due to the popularity of Japanese animation, as evidenced by the fact that “Oni no Shuraku no Ka” ranked first at the North American weekend box office in May 2009, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” became the first Japanese film to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards in 2010. In addition, “Drive My Car” directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi became the first Japanese film to be nominated for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards in 2010, and won the International Best Feature Film Award.

This latest accomplishment will give further impetus to the future overseas expansion of Japanese films.

  • Writer Ryo Sakamoto (Writer, former head of the Culture and Society Department of Tokyo Sports Newspaper)

    Writes articles on entertainment, movies, Hollywood information, etc., including the web magazine "PlusαToday". Member of the Japan Film Pen Club.

  • PHOTO Reuters/Afro

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