Studio Ghibli
Anime has proved to be a force to be reckoned with at the box office in recent years, and there are few names in the world of anime that mean more to people than Studio Ghibli. To that end, even though most of the focus over the weekend was on the Oscars, including the sharp and heartfelt monologue by host Conan O'Brien, fans made a point to see "Kiki's Delivery Service" on the biggest screen possible as well.
Director Hayao Miyazaki's 1989 classic was re-released in IMAX over the weekend, in 4K no less, on 249 screens in the U.S. Despite the low screen count, the movie pulled in $1.1 million, coming in at ninth on the charts domestically just behind another re-release, namely "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze" ($1.4 million). Colleen Hoover's "Reminders of Him" cemented the author as a juggernaut, leading the pack of new releases with $18.2 million).
Even so, "Kiki's Delivery Service" had the third-best per-screen average of any movie on the charts this weekend. The re-release proved to be a win for IMAX and a win for distributor GKIDS, which has really made a name for itself in the anime space of late. Specialty programming such as this helped bolster what could have been a down weekend for theaters.
"Kiki's Delivery Service" follows 13-year-old Kiki as she moves to a seaside town with her talking cat, Jiji, to spend a year alone as part of her village's tradition for witches in training. After learning to control her broomstick, Kiki starts up a flying courier service, becoming a staple of the community. But when she begins questioning herself and loses her magic abilities, Kiki must overcome her insecurities to get her powers back.
The Kiki's Delivery Service re-release proves anime is here to stay
Studio Ghibli
Anime has been on the rise in the U.S. pretty much ever since the pandemic upended Hollywood in 2020. Just last year, "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle" became the highest-grossing anime movie ever, pulling in $741 million worldwide, including a huge $136 million domestically. That's just the tip of the iceberg, with franchises like "Chainsaw Man" having also found success in the mainstream, among others.
What's most surprising, though, is that originals have broken through as well. Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" made history at the box office in 2023, becoming the first original Japanese animated film ever to top the charts in the U.S. That similarly hailed from GKIDS, it's worth noting. But "Kiki's Delivery Service" is especially noteworthy for several reasons.
For one, even though it's considered to be one of the better Studio Ghibli movies, it's still a movie that's nearly 30 years old and is readily available to stream on HBO Max (on top of being available on Blu-ray/DVD for years). All the same, this became an event for a certain die-hard crowd, undoubtedly driven by younger fans who didn't get to see it in its day. That sort of intense fandom is impressive. Anime regularly inspires that sort of "must-see" attitude that is helping to fill seats in theaters time and time again.
Moreover, this is another example of IMAX asserting itself as remarkably important in the modern era. Audiences are happy to pay the premium for that experience these days. It's generally easy for people to stay home, but IMAX justifies a trip to the theater when so many other things don't quite meet that standard for the average consumer.
You can catch "Kiki's Deliver Service" in theaters now.
English (US) ·