Despite a rather slow weekend at the box office, it was quite historic for Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, who achieved his first U.S. box office with The Boy and the Heron.
The film – which received great reviews from critics with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – took home $12.8 million in its first weekend – via Deadline.
The beloved animated film dethroned Beyonce's concert documentary Renaissance, which slipped from first place to sixth last weekend, dropping a whopping 77.1% with just $5 million.
Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron opened in 2,205 theaters for a decent average of $4,737 per screen.
The film – distributed by GKIDS – is the first foreign production to top the box office in 2023, and the first since Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero debuted in August 2021 with $21.1 million.
Despite a rather slow weekend at the box office, it was quite historic for Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, who achieved his first U.S. box office with The Boy and the Heron.
Omitted: The beloved animated film dethroned Beyonce's concert documentary Renaissance, which slipped from first place to sixth last weekend, dropping a whopping 77.1% with just $5 million
It is also the first original anime film not based on an existing IP to top the box office, and only the third anime film ever, after Pokemon: The First Movie and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes remained in second place with $9.4 million, down just 33.7%, with a domestic total of $135.6 million.
Also staying in third place was Toho's Godzilla Minus One, which dropped just 26.9% and grossed $8.3 million for a rare showing that saw two Japanese films in the top 5 at the US box office.
Both The Boy With the Heron and Godzilla Minus One ($25.3 million domestic) represented a third of the weekend's total ticket sales.
Trolls Band Together ($6.2 million, $83 million domestic) and Wish ($5.3 million, $49.4 million domestic) rounded out the top 5.
Beyoncé's Renaissance plummeted all the way to sixth place, dropping a whopping 77.1% in its second weekend, grossing just $5 million.
That was just a week after it topped the box office with $21.8 million, premiering in 2,539 theaters with a whopping $8,586 per screen average.
Rounding out the top 10 is newcomer Napoleon ($4.2 million, $53 million domestic). Waitress: The Musical ($2.5 million, $3.2 million), Animal ($2.2 million, $11.5 million domestic) and The Shift ($2.1 million, $8.5 million domestic).
It is also the first original anime film not based on an existing IP to top the box office, and only the third anime film ever, after Pokemon: The First Movie and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
Also staying in third place was Toho's Godzilla Minus One, which dropped just 26.9% and grossed $8.3 million for a rare showing that saw two Japanese films in the top 5 at the US box office.
Both The Boy With the Heron and Godzilla Minus One ($25.3 million domestic) represented a third of the weekend's total ticket sales.
Elsewhere in limited release, seasonal favorite Poor Things opened to $644,000 in just nine theaters, for a staggering $71,555 per screen average.
Origin also performed well in limited release, raking in $117,063 from just two theaters for an impressive average of $58,531 per screen.
Anselm also did well, with $43,300 from just two theaters for a per-screen average of $21,650.
Next week brings Wonka, The Kennedy Incident, American Fiction, Concrete Utopia and The Zone of Interest to theaters.
