Search

2008-12-01

Is the US Ponyo Cast Confirmed?

GhibliWorld was the first to break news on the US cast for Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea this past week, but there seems to be some controversy on the matter. Disney has still not made any official announcement on the matter, and Anime News Network claimed that the story is false, based on a rumored test screening in Pasadena.

As with all things involving the internet, we must take these with a grain of salt. But I haven't been aware of GhibliWorld peddling falsehoods. They tend to get their facts and figures straight, even if it means ruffling a few feathers (which is unfortunate). In any event, until I hear official word otherwise, I would expect this to be the American casting for Ponyo.

This is where the Ghibli Freaks all try to discern Disney's plans for the movie, whether they will seriously promote Ponyo, or bury it to a quick death in the art-house theatres. While I'm hopeful it will be treated better than poor Howl (202 screens on opening week, then kicked down to 37), I am just as clueless as anybody. It's really not in the business of Hollywood studios to promote their rivals, after all. Even if they're guaranteed a cut of the action.

As with all things, we will simply have to wait and see.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hopefully Ponyo will get itself a decent release...maybe even 400 theatres! =)

Because of the films plot and what could be perceieved as more of a "family' and/or "childrens" film to the average Movie-goer, maybe they will try and promote it more...hoping for another Totoro.

I live in Vancouver (Canada) which has a fair share of theaters and multiplexes. I'm not sure about Spirited Away, but Howl's Moving Castle was only playing at one Theater in all of the Province. Fortunately it was playing at Tinseltown which is one of Giganto-Theatres, so I was able to watch the film on a nice big screen with excellent sound and a comfy chair. (and not stuck in one of the older theaters populating Downtown) You would think that with all the SilverCity uber-theaters that they could spare a few more screens for these films.

But alas, we need to make sure people can watch the latest *Spoof Movie* every 15 minutes

Anonymous said...

Actually, ANN does not say anywhere that the list is false, just that they (ANN) cannot confirm it. I do want to note that there is something incorrect about ANN's news post, GhibliWorld.com's source is definitely NOT an online Craig List ad. This is far from a credible source, and something GhibliWorld.com would never base its news on. ANN has been informed about this error and added an update to the article. Either way, GhibliWorld.com has a way different source and trust me: there is no making up names in here...

More Ghibli Blog Posts To Discover