DIRECTOR Hayao Miyazaki’s 18 year old Spirited Away just dominated Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 4 at the Chinese box office. Spirited Away raked in a cool $28M compared to Toy Story 4’s $13.2M opening weekend. Studio Ghibli proves once again the classic nature of their hand drawn films. For a market that just received its second Ghibli film to respond so positively is very encouraging for the Japanese studio. With a new original Miyazaki film right around the corner, this points towards a strong simultaneous Chinese release if the studio can make it happen.
Studio Ghibli’s vault of excellent films has never officially released in the Chinese market. If this recent opening weekend is any indication, more of these films may soon find themselves in Chinese theaters.
A generation grew up watching Ghibli films on bootleg DVD’s and now they have an opportunity to directly support the creators; sharing a beloved experience with children of their own. Hopefully we see the rest of the Studio Ghibli catalog make an appearance.
Tell us what you think about this surprising (?) Spirited Away box office development below.
