‘The Boy and the Heron Crosses’ 5 Billion Yen Milestone In Japan

legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film The Boy and the Heron finished its fourth weekend in Japanese cinemas in fourth place at the box office, crossing the five-billion-yen milestone in the process.

after four weeks, the surreal coming of age film hit 5.48 billion yen (about $39.03 million U.S.) and sold 3.61 million tickets. However, the total tickets is only 98% of the first four-week gross of Miyazaki’s previous film, The Wind Rises. That film ended its box office run at 12 billion yen (US$116.9 million).

The Boy and the Heron will be available in U.S. theaters later this year, distributed by longtime Ghibli collaborator GKIDS.  It will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7 before enjoying a wide release through GKIDS — which is holding true to Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki’s low-promotion strategy.