Courtesy of Box Office Mojo, we have the box office returns for the week of January 12-16, which includes the opening weekend for Arrietty the Borrower. Playing on 205 screens, Arrietty earned $1,406,549 and landed at fifth place on the charts. Season of the Witch (blech), the week's top earner, made $2,749,309, so that should give you a general idea of the larger picture.
I'm not an expert on France's movie business, so I can't yet say where Arrietty stands or how long its run will last. According to the records, Ponyo grossed $6,901,818 during its French run. Animation has a very strong tradition in that country, and it is a stronghold for not only Studio Ghibli, but the entire Miyazaki-Takahata canon. Takahata, for example, makes regular appearances there, and many of their films are given theatrical runs.
I would really like to hear what the Ghibli fans in France have to say. What were your impressions of the movie? Were the theaters packed? Is there a lot of positive buzz?
1 comment:
Hi there,
I've seen it last week-end. The movie was in Japanese but still the theater was full, even with some children.
The realisation is impressive: the little world is amazingly detailed and you just get sucked into it. I thought the music was a bit repetitive but I liked it nonetheless. The sound effects (rain drops, leaves...) were louder than usual and really helped getting into the borrowers' shoes. About the story (I won't spoil anything): well there isn't much in fact and I was wondering where it was going. Then at some point a morale is thrown to the viewer's face... Ghibli movies are usually a lot more subtle but may be it was the whole point of the movie: humans not being aware of what's around them.
Overall: it was great! I was a bit sceptical because I really didn't like "Tales from Earthsea" and since it was a new realisator, I hoped it won't be the same. In the end it was really well done and I had a great moment.
And about the buzz, I've only seen good reviews in newspapers.
When I post this, the movie is Ranked 5th in France with 183 156 views. In comparaison, "The Green Hornet" released the same day has "276 619" views.
About the reviews (based on AlloCine website: http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm=176684.html):
Newspapers reviews average : 3.8/5
Viewers reviews average : 4/5
Overall the reviews are quite good. People doesn't seem to care that it's not Miyazaki who did it.
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