Makoto Shinkai’s ‘Suzume’ Soars With $50 Million Opening in China – The Hollywood Reporter
The latest feature of the Japanese maestro in the anime Makoto Shinkai Suzume It shot to the top of the theatrical box office in China over the weekend, earning $50 million, the biggest debut for a non-Chinese film this year. The performance underscores the growing power of Japanese anime in China’s blockbuster movie market at a time when prices for Hollywood superheroes are fading.
Suzume It is currently expected to finish its run at around $90 million, according to forecasts by local ticketing service Maoyan. This will be the largest performance ever by a Japanese animated feature.
Meanwhile, Hollywood studios have stumbled into China in 2023. Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever He earned only $15.6 million (compared to the first Black Panther$105 million) and Ant-Man 3 It took only 39 million dollars (Ant-Man 2 It was $121 million). Warner Bros Shazam! 2 It brought in a disappointing $5.6 million (versus the $44 million of the original Shazam!), while the horror hit Unversal M3GAN Make only $2.8. million
Suzume He gave Shinkai the best opening for China in his career. hacked it in 2016, your name, reached $41.3 million on its way to a cumulative total of $83.7 million. follow it up for 2019, weathering with youopened to $22 million and grossed over $40.8 million.
Another fantasy adventure for young people, Suzume It follows a 17-year-old high school girl who helps a mysterious young man close the doors from an outside world that is causing disasters across Japan. The film made its international premiere in February at the Berlin Film Festival, where it was warmly received by critics (THRThe reviewer summed it up as “a coming-of-age adventure that’s bursting with emotion”). It has already earned $105 million in Japan and $24 million in South Korea. It will open in the United States and most of Europe next month.
Suzume Easily take control of many pending titles as well as new Chinese releases over the weekend. Comedy drama After the factwhich topped the charts for the previous two frames, it came in second, grossing $12.5 million, according to Artisan Gateway. It totals $86.4 million after 16 days on screens. New version The best is yet to come, an investigative journalism thriller about a real-life public health scandal, opened in third place with $5.6 million. The film made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in 2020 to a positive positive response but then had to wait two and a half years for its release amid the pandemic. It was produced by International Festival favorite Jia Zhangqi and directed by Wang Jing.
Hollywood Studios’ next major showing in China will come on March 31 with Paramount’s simultaneous release Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and science fiction adventures from Sony 65. It’s possible, if not likely, though, that both films would later be outdone by another Japanese animated film. Hit Toei Animation’s basketball anime Next salam dunkwhich recently grossed $34.5 million in Korea (the most ever for a Japanese film), is set for a major release in China on April 20.