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[Flynn]

According to PlayAsia the first international DVD release is slated for July 31st.

The U.S. release is scheduled for a limited opening June 10 to expand to 60 cities June 17th.

I believe this is a first for Miyazaki movies. Many fans already owned Spirited Away by the time we saw it in the states.

I hope this speed of release for foreign films becomes the rule, rather than the exception.


EDIT: Oops, sorry about that typo in the title.

 

[FoneBone]

Fuck. Miyazaki movies deserve as wide a release as Disney gives to crap like the Pooh movies (2000+ screens). But hopefully I'll still be able to see it...

 

[Pellham]

I saw some dude's camcorder-recorded version of Howl's. Crap quality but the movie was good enough that you didn't care after a while. Though i'd love to watch the movie again in theaters to get the real experience.

 

[number386]

So Disney pays millions for the NA distribution rights of Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli films and they pull these limited releases, low budget adverising. BAH!!!


IIRC correctly

Spirited Away - Pulled in slightly over 3 million
Princess Mononoke - Pulled in slightly under 3 million

 

[number386]

gah, double posted. Might as well put this post to good use.

Howl's Moving Castle written by Dianne wynne Jones is a very good read.

 

[Dan]

Domestic:
Spirited Away ~$10 million
Princess Mononoke ~$2.3 million

I've never seen an accurate quote for how much Disney pays for these rights though.

 

[Flynn]

Disney plans to expand Howls to 500 or 600 screens, so it will be a pretty decent release for what for all intents and purposes is a foreign film.

Also, I'd call Howl's Moving Castle counter-programming to Batman and the other summer blockbusters. The movie will do well.

 

[Pellham]

500 or 600 screens isn't much...

but anime fans and children will eat the movie up. i'll be one of the first in line. )

 

[Hitokage]

Actually, the reason for Spirited Away's initial limited release was John Lasseter, the guy who had it brought over in the first place. He was afraid of it having a big first week then fizzling out, so he thought letting word-of-mouth build would be better.

Don't know their reasons for doing it again with Howl even after Spirited Away's oscar though...

 

[JasoNsider]

I hope one of those 60 cities is near Ottawa, Ontario. Montreal or TO will do. It will mean a road trip is required, but it would be worth it.

Otherwise I'll buy the DVD.

 

[number386]

Domestic:
Spirited Away ~$10 million
Princess Mononoke ~$2.3 million

I've never seen an accurate quote for how much Disney pays for these rights though.

WOW!!!

Last time I checked spirited away was slightly over 3 million. Apparently the oscar nod made a box office impression. But if IIRC the DVD was out around the same time as the oscars.

I could of sworn I saw Princess Mononoke at 2.7 million. It was a long time ago so my memory's a bit fuzzy.

 

[Draff]

I hope one of those 60 cities is near Ottawa, Ontario. Montreal or TO will do. It will mean a road trip is required, but it would be worth it.

Otherwise I'll buy the DVD.

I'm sure it'll be in those three cities... Toronto for sure, and Ottawa and Montreal most likely; after all, Spirited Away was released in all three cities and had a more limited initial release.

 

[speedpop]

Actually, the reason for Spirited Away's initial limited release was John Lasseter, the guy who had it brought over in the first place. He was afraid of it having a big first week then fizzling out, so he thought letting word-of-mouth build would be better.

Don't know their reasons for doing it again with Howl even after Spirited Away's oscar though...

I think Spirited Away worked wonders that way, Nausicaa.net has a detailed synopsis of the little feature called literally "Thank you Mr Lasseter" and it's about the journey of Spirited Away from Japan to the US that I thought was a very very good read. Also shows the huge fanbase that Pixar have towards Studio Ghibli.

Personally I think if marketed right, Howl's Moving Castle could easily get tons of females into anime. It's like the female's version of Porco Rosso if anything but actually shows you the ending as to what happens between to the main characters. It's just a shame that anime tends to still be viewed as a guy's thing or child's thing. When I went and saw it in Singapore, I was so happy to see little 5 year olds upto 60+ year olds pack the entire cinema to capacity. There was not a single empty seat left.

 

[Flynn]

The Numbers:

Spirited Away: Max screens 714 (expansion after Oscar Nomination)

Princess Monoke: Max Screens 129

Howl's Moving Castle : We'll see. From what I've heard, the 500-600 number will come close on the heels of the expansion to 60-70.