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Their initial predictions were even more optimistic (I think they expected the movie to gross over $400 million).
I think it's still possible for "Howl's Moving Castle" to outgross "Spirited Away" especially if the movie does well during the holidays.
To be honest, I didn't really expect "Howl's Moving Castle" to do perform as well as "Spirited Away" because it seems more European-like.
By the way, according to this article (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-12/22/content_2365624.htm) "The Terminal" opened at second (not third) place.

I'm just ecstatic that Howl's Moving Castle is still # 1. I can't wait til it reaches stateside. It's also good to see that The Incredibles is doing well on both continents.

cubs2084 wrote:

Why are American movies popular in Asia, but not vice-versa?

Simple answer: money and production/distribution dominance. The US film industry basically spends 1.5-2x the actual cost of the production of the film to promote their movies [since it is an 80-100% tax right off]. This also applies to foreign countries. Additionally, our budgets far exceed any other country [good or bad, your choice]. With that being said, even the crappiest movie gleems with polish due to the excessive budgets. Technically, the US leads most types of film production [if you are going to look at coreography and martial arts, you will have to look at the asian sector].

Production/distribution dominance goes further when it comes to the history of American film dominance. Europe [France, England, and Italy] used to be the film leader in the early years [1894-1914] but that all changed with World War I. Further damaging the production output of European countries was World War II. These two wars desimated European production, therefore, opening up the market for an almost foreign film base. America became the standard.

Due to this history of American dominance and our willingness to spend more money than needed for production costs [see: Waterworld costing 150 million is a perfect example] you can see why American films do so well in Asia.

As far as Asian films not making money domestically, the same factors apply domestically. Most problematic to US distribution is subtitling. Most Americans don't want to read a movie [this can also be associated to most Americans inability to read fast - ie. reading comprehension]. Dubbing has been traditionally bad [weirdly enough, almost no French films are dubbed theatrically]. These factors all lead to an American dislike for foriegn films. Luckily, this has been changing over the years, with the sucess of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and its ilk.

The Japanese also dub foreign films and tv shows. From what I know, in Japan, American movies are usually shown both subbed and dubbed.

Animefan16 wrote:

The Japanese also dub foreign films and tv shows. From what I know, in Japan, American movies are usually shown both subbed and dubbed.

Yeah, but even though there's both dub and sub, many Japanese are used to seeing movies subbed. They prefer the authenticity (it can be awkward seeing an American person onscreen speaking perfect Japanese like a native Japanese person Razz

). It also adds a sense of "coolness" since US stuff is popular in Japan, and Asia, and the entire globe.

Now, this attitude is far different in the US. Foreign films are generally not as popular as America's own movies (except for a few exceptions). And most Americans are simply not used to seeing movie subs, unlike the rest of the globe where many countries have become used to seeing stuff from the US subbed. So in a way, Hollywood has a near-wide monopoly on the entertainment business. But you can't solely blame Hollywood because if foreign audiences didn't like American films, they wouldn't watch it. But I guess they do love American movies *shrugs*

cubs:

Quote:

Why are American movies popular in Asia, but not vice-versa?

I'm actually surprised that Terminal's doing better than AVP in Japan, when it was the reverse in the U.S. A.I. was also a smash hit over there, even when it flopped here. I'd have thought that with what's trendy over there, the Japanese would've moved away from slow and boring films, but it looks like they still have a market there. At least that's good news for Hideo Nakata and Kyoshi Kurosawa...

As for G: Final Wars, it's the last one for at least a decade, because even when coupled with Hamtaro movies, the previous three G-flicks were flops. I actually liked them, but I have to admit that outside of Megaguiras, they weren't very ambitious.

Nagia:

Quote:

Godzilla bombed pretty regularly through the 1970s (I can see why...c'mon, Megalon!?),

I hated Son of Godzilla myself.

Quote:

Then things began to dwindle again through the nineties (I think the only really big winner prior to 1995 was the remake of Godzilla vs. Mothra),

Actually, I thought a lot of the better Godzilla movies came out during the 90's. It's just that people preferred some stupid turtle who ripped off the Guyver's attack in the second movie.

Animefan: I was hoping Sony already had the international rights
myself, but apparently Toho is weighing its options with other Hollywood studios.

Tempest:

Quote:

This surprised me. So far Howl's Moving Castle has earned less than Spirited Away at the same time (in Yen).

Could be because Miyazaki didn't say he was retiring this time. What I'm really wondering is if the disappointing opening from Inu Yasha means Takahashi will be finishing up the manga soon.

GATSU wrote:

Actually, I thought a lot of the better Godzilla movies came out during the 90's.

So did I—the Heisei series is my personal favourite line of Godzilla films—but I'm speaking in terms of their box office performance.

And speaking of Gamera, I guess it was about high time they did something worthwhile with that franchise. People that claim late-60s/early-70s Godzilla was cheesy haven't seen what "The Friend to Children Everywhere" was offering up around the same time. Laughing

GATSU wrote:

Terminal's doing better than AVP in Japan, when it was the reverse in the U.S. A.I. was also a smash hit over there, even when it flopped here. I'd have thought that with what's trendy over there, the Japanese would've moved away from slow and boring films, but it looks like they still have a market there.

Terminal has two things AVP doesen't - Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks (both of whom are quite famous in Japan). Also, I didn't think neither of "A.I." or "Terminal" were boring (not were their that slow) - I absolutely loved both of them. "AVP" on the other hand...

By the way, "AVP" grossed only around $3 million more in US
than "The Terminal" did. That's not a very big difference. However, I expect "The Terminal" to sell better on DVD.

GATSU wrote:

What I'm really wondering is if the disappointing opening from Inu Yasha means Takahashi will be finishing up the manga soon.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think she already anounced that the manga will be finished soon. I wonder what she will do nesxt?

tempest wrote:

Quote:

Toho distribution general manager, expects Howl to "at least reach the same box office cume as Spirited Away."

This surprised me. So far Howl's Moving Castle has earned less than Spirited Away at the same time (in Yen).

You forget that Spirited Away had been released in summer vacation of Japanese students.
Howl has been released in November which is not vacation time in Japan. If you think that Howl can beats Spirited Away easily, it is wrong.

Oh shoot, Kungfu Hustle made the list. Stephen Chow is slowly becoming the next Jim Carrey, except funnier and more outrageous.

This is definitely one of the biggest title around asia. For those of you who caught Shaolin Soccer here in the U.S. Theaters, KungFu hustle is even more funnier.

No one's talked about how awesome Ocean's Twelve is. Personally, I think it's way better than the first.

After talking to some of my Japanese friends, it seems that the Japanese love the Ocean movies because it has such big name American stars, like Brad Pitt and George Clooney. I think the about of stars in this movie also contributes to it's success in Japan.

The Japanese love Clooney and Pitt for other reasons. Anyway, I'm betting his break-up with Aniston made him more desirable to the Japanese chicks.

Ocean's Twelve Japanese reviews
average 2.5/5 star
http://moviessearch.yahoo.co.jp/detail?ty=mv&id=320917

Ocean's Twelve is not really that good, that I really don't know why it got first place.

Sorry, but I have to say this about Howl's: OWNED!!!

Enough people liked Ocean's 11 to at least waste $8.50 at the theatre to see the sequel.

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