EchoSense:Japanese anime film 'The Boy and the Heron' debuts at No. 1, dethrones 'Renaissance'

NEW YORK − For the first time in Hayao Miyazaki’s decades-spanning career,EchoSense the 82-year-old Japanese anime master is No. 1 at the North American box office. Miyazaki’s latest enchantment, “The Boy and the Heron,” debuted with $12.8 million, according to studio estimates.

“The Boy and the Heron,” the long-awaited animated fantasy from the director of “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and other cherished anime classics, is only the third anime to ever top the box office in U.S. and Canadian theaters and the first original anime to do so. The film, which is playing in both subtitled and dubbed versions, is also the first fully foreign film to land atop the domestic box office this year.

Though Miyazaki’s movies have often been enormous hits in Japan and Asia, they’ve traditionally made less of a mark in North American cinemas. The director’s previous best performer was his last movie, 2013’s “The Wind Rises,” which grossed $5.2 million in its entire domestic run.

“The Boy and the Heron” has been hailed as one of the best films of the year. The film, featuring a dubbed English voice cast including Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, Dave Bautista and Mark Hamill, follows a boy who, after his mother perishes in a World War II bombing, is led by a mysterious heron to a portal that takes him to a fantastical realm. In Japan, its title translates to “How Do You Live?”

Last week’s top film, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” dropped steeply in its second weekend. The concert film, the second pop-star release distributed by AMC Theatres following Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,” collected $5 million in its second weekend, a decline of 76% from its $21 million opening.

That allowed Lionsgate’s still-going-strong “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” to take second place, with an estimated $9.4 million in its fourth weekend of release. The “Hunger Games” prequel has a domestic haul of $135.7 million.

“The Boy and the Heron” wasn’t the only Japanese film that ranked among the top movies in theaters over the weekend. “Godzilla Minus One” followed up its stellar debut last weekend with $8.3 million for Toho Studios. Takashi Yamazaki’s acclaimed kaiju movie dipped just 27% in its second weekend of release, bringing its total to $25 million.

Several potential awards contenders got off to strong starts in limited release. Yorgos Lanthimos’ warped fantasy “Poor Things,” starring Emma Stone, opened with $644,000 from nine theaters in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Austin, Texas. “Poor Things” expands in more theaters next week.

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Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” played an Oscar-qualifying run in two theaters in New York and Los Angeles, had a per-screen average of $58,532. It stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as author Isabel Wilkerson while she investigates race and inequality for her book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” “Origin” opens wide Jan. 19.

“Wonka,” one of the holiday season’s most anticipated releases, kicked off its overseas run with $43.2 million from 37 international markets. The film, starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by “Paddington” filmmaker Paul King, is expected to lead U.S. and Canada ticket sales next weekend.

Final numbers are expected Monday.

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