Studio Ghibli's Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea has held on to the top slot at the Japanese box office for a fifth week - despite going head to head with the latest Pokemon film, The Dark Knight and a strong $6.97m opening for Asian-themed The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor this week.
After another impressive weekend takings of $7.7m (Yen853m), Hayao Miyazaki's animated family film has now reached the $90.4m (Yen10bn) milestone, after only a month on release (July 19). It is playing on a record 481 screens.
The last domestic film in Japan to reach this figure was Miyazaki's own Howl's Moving Castle ($178.42m) in 2004, and his 2001 Spirited Away set records with $290m.
It brings Ponyo to number seven in our international chart, despite it only being released in Japan to date (Disney plans to roll out the film in most international territories in late 2008 or in 2009). Like Howl's Moving Castle, Toho hopes to allow the film time to gain even more momentum in Japan, with its run planned to extend late into the autumn.
In our chart, it is beaten only by Hollywood behemoths such as The Dark Knight, Mamma Mia! The Movie and another animated film, Wall-E.
Ponyo will have its international premiere in competition at the Venice film festival on August 30, along with another Japanese animation, The Sky Crawlers, which has grossed $4.3m (Yen472m) to date at the Japanese box office.
The success of Ponyo, along with TBS's live action Boys Over Flowers: Final ($58.78m) and Fuji TV's The Magic Hour ($35m), could also help Japan's Toho Studios towards its goal of $550m (Yen60bn) in box-office earnings, making this the most successful year in the company's history.
- With additional reporting by Jason Gray and Sheri Jennings.
Analysis: International box-office Weekend August 15-17 | ||||||
(Last | 3-day | |||||
week) | Film (origin) | gross $ | Scrs | Cume $ | Terr | |
1 | (2) | The Dark Knight (US) | $39,906,412 | 7,575 | $319,750,494 | 60 |
2 | (1) | The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon... (US) | $25,032,763 | 5,649 | $188,516,434 | 51 |
3 | (4) | Mamma Mia! The Movie (US) | $17,964,344 | 2,676 | $206,757,000 | 25 |
4 | (3) | Wall-E (US) | $12,965,000 | 3,537 | $145,822,000 | 27 |
5 | (25) | You Don't Mess With The Zohan (US) | $11,194,448 | 1,448 | $40,858,405 | 23 |
6 | (7) | Ponyo On The Cliff... (Jap) | $7,746,216 | 481 | $90,465,520 | 1 |
7 | New | Star Wars: The Clone Wars (US) | $7,052,585 | 3,058 | $7,166,259 | 21 |
8 | (6) | Kung Fu Panda (US) | $6,204,754 | 3,965 | $364,354,997 | 37 |
9 | (5) | Singh Is Kinng (Ind) | $5,804,150 | 1,019 | $21,665,190 | 19 |
10 | (11) | The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince... (US) | $5,159,000 | 2,438 | $262,146,000 | 20 |
11 | (12) | Wanted (US) | $4,235,434 | 1,251 | $126,187,779 | 32 |
12 | (10) | Journey To The Center Of The Earth (US) | $3,779,369 | 553 | $44,342,885 | 16 |
13 | New | Bachna Ae Haseeno (India) | $3,651,239 | 709 | $3,651,239 | 17 |
14 | (8) | Hancock (US) | $3,584,412 | 2,483 | $339,330,408 | 57 |
15 | (9) | The X-Files: I Want To Believe (US) | $3,313,160 | 2,294 | $36,538,484 | 37 |
16 | (23) | Taken (Fr) | $3,311,847 | 791 | $35,107,009 | 4 |
17 | (19) | Meet Dave (US) | $2,800,614 | 1,036 | $22,734,660 | 20 |
18 | New | God Tussi Great Ho (Ind) | $2,753,072 | 634 | $2,753,072 | 17 |
19 | New | Tropic Thunder (US) | $2,648,076 | 457 | $2,648,076 | 3 |
20 | New | Wild Child (UK) | $2,570,486 | 405 | $2,570,486 | 2 |
21 | (13) | Death Bell (S Kor) | $1,919,098 | 262 | $7,101,218 | 1 |
22 | New | L'Empreinte De L'Ange (Fr) | $1,805,683 | 308 | $1,805,683 | 3 |
23 | (15) | Get Smart (US) | $1,780,372 | 982 | $75,178,692 | 27 |
24 | * | What Happens In Vegas (US) | $1,722,217 | 247 | $133,690,770 | 4 |
25 | (14) | The Bank Job (UK) | $1,685,312 | 530 | $23,484,815 | 11 |
26 | (16) | Pokemon 2008 (Jap) | $1,611,860 | 359 | $36,271,644 | 1 |
27 | New | Dachimawa Lee (S Kor) | $1,486,836 | 332 | $1,928,808 | 1 |
28 | (21) | The Good, The Bad, The Weird (S Kor) | $1,312,057 | 354 | $38,924,044 | 1 |
29 | (22) | Boys Over Flowers: Final (Jap) | $1,253,353 | 316 | $63,591,702 | 1 |
30 | (37) | Speed Racer (US) | $1,032,665 | 575 | $48,441,636 | 1 |
31 | (20) | Masked Rider Kiva (Jap) | $1,014,429 | 286 | $4,934,429 | 1 |
32 | New | Double Trouble (Phil) | $993,758 | 72 | $993,758 | 1 |
33 | New | Bla Maend (Den) | $954,405 | 97 | $1,097,992 | 1 |
34 | (17) | An Eye For An Eye (S Kor) | $945,117 | 231 | $12,314,832 | 1 |
35 | * | Gomorra (It) | $937,053 | 139 | $16,988,298 | 2 |
36 | (18) | Red Cliff (Ch) | $914,135 | 481 | $68,686,646 | 8 |
37 | New | Baby and Me (S Kor) | $903,972 | 214 | $1,113,693 | 1 |
38 | New | Un Novio Para Mi Mujer (Arg) | $850,319 | 83 | $850,319 | 1 |
39 | (32) | The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life (Fr) | $835,428 | 313 | $5,691,359 | 2 |
40 | * | The Strangers (US) | $794,004 | 227 | $4,836,688 | 7 |
*Re-entry (c) Screen International, compiled by Leonard Klady |
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