Your Name (Photo : What’s Anime/YouTube)
Movie experts in China were correct in predicting that the Japanese anime movie “Your Name” would become a big hit in China. It was not just a hit among Chinese moviegoers but even broke box-office records.
Variety reported that “Your Name” topped China’s box-office with gross receipts of $41 million during its opening weekend. As a result, last week’s top earning movie, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” was dethroned to second place on its second weekend with earnings of $15.5 million.
In third place is “Miss Peregine’s Home for Peculiar Children” with weekend receipt of $10.2 million. The version shown in China of the film was edited because some scenes were considered by Chinese regulators as too intense for children.
On Friday, “Your Name” earned $11 million which went up to $17.4 million the next day, Ent Group reported. The anime, which is about two high school students whose souls switched places, is now the third-highest grossing movie in Japan with box-office receipt of 18.97 billion yen or $171 million since it was released in Japan on Aug. 26.
Japan Times reported on Monday that the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) awarded “Your Name” on Sunday the best animation film of the year. The award is said to influence the Oscar Awards.
In 2014, another Japanese movie, “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” was also given the same award by the LAFCA. It was directed by Isao Takahata, while the director of “Your Name” is Makoto Shinkai.
“Your Anime” is expected to be nominated for an Academy Award, along with “Zootopia” and “Finding Dory” by Walt Disney in the animation category. The nominations would be announced in January 2017.
