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
(Last3-day
week)Film (origin)gross $ScrsCume $Terr
1(2)The Dark Knight (US)$39,906,4127,575$319,750,49460
2(1)The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon... (US)$25,032,7635,649$188,516,43451
3(4)Mamma Mia! The Movie (US)$17,964,3442,676$206,757,00025
4(3)Wall-E (US)$12,965,0003,537$145,822,00027
5(25)You Don't Mess With The Zohan (US)$11,194,4481,448$40,858,40523
6(7)Ponyo On The Cliff... (Jap)$7,746,216481$90,465,5201
7NewStar Wars: The Clone Wars (US)$7,052,5853,058$7,166,25921
8(6)Kung Fu Panda (US)$6,204,7543,965$364,354,99737
9(5)Singh Is Kinng (Ind)$5,804,1501,019$21,665,19019
10(11)The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince... (US)$5,159,0002,438$262,146,00020
11(12)Wanted (US)$4,235,4341,251$126,187,77932
12(10)Journey To The Center Of The Earth (US)$3,779,369553$44,342,88516
13NewBachna Ae Haseeno (India)$3,651,239709$3,651,23917
14(8)Hancock (US)$3,584,4122,483$339,330,40857
15(9)The X-Files: I Want To Believe (US)$3,313,1602,294$36,538,48437
16(23)Taken (Fr)$3,311,847791$35,107,0094
17(19)Meet Dave (US)$2,800,6141,036$22,734,66020
18NewGod Tussi Great Ho (Ind)$2,753,072634$2,753,07217
19NewTropic Thunder (US)$2,648,076457$2,648,0763
20NewWild Child (UK)$2,570,486405$2,570,4862
21(13)Death Bell (S Kor)$1,919,098262$7,101,2181
22NewL'Empreinte De L'Ange (Fr)$1,805,683308$1,805,6833
23(15)Get Smart (US)$1,780,372982$75,178,69227
24*What Happens In Vegas (US)$1,722,217247$133,690,7704
25(14)The Bank Job (UK)$1,685,312530$23,484,81511
26(16)Pokemon 2008 (Jap)$1,611,860359$36,271,6441
27NewDachimawa Lee (S Kor)$1,486,836332$1,928,8081
28(21)The Good, The Bad, The Weird (S Kor)$1,312,057354$38,924,0441
29(22)Boys Over Flowers: Final (Jap)$1,253,353316$63,591,7021
30(37)Speed Racer (US)$1,032,665575$48,441,6361
31(20)Masked Rider Kiva (Jap)$1,014,429286$4,934,4291
32NewDouble Trouble (Phil)$993,75872$993,7581
33NewBla Maend (Den)$954,40597$1,097,9921
34(17)An Eye For An Eye (S Kor)$945,117231$12,314,8321
35*Gomorra (It)$937,053139$16,988,2982
36(18)Red Cliff (Ch)$914,135481$68,686,6468
37NewBaby and Me (S Kor)$903,972214$1,113,6931
38NewUn Novio Para Mi Mujer (Arg)$850,31983$850,3191
39(32)The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life (Fr)$835,428313$5,691,3592
40*The Strangers (US)$794,004227$4,836,6887
*Re-entry (c) Screen International, compiled by Leonard Klady