News
Ocean Waves Earns US$68,300 in 30 Days at U.S. Box Office
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Box Office Mojo reported that GKIDS' theatrical release of Studio Ghibli's Ocean Waves anime film has earned US$68,300 in the United States as of Thursday. GKIDS opened the film at the IFC Center in New York on December 28, and it lists 54 theaters that have screened or will screen the film in North America.
The film earned US$12,039 at three theaters in the United States in its first six days and ranked #57 at the box office for its opening weekend.
Studio Ghibli's 1993 Ocean Waves television special and another Ghibli work, Grave of the Fireflies, were notably missing from Tokuma Shoten and Walt Disney Company's landmark international distribution deal for every other Ghibli feature in 1996. Central Park Media (CPM) and later ADV Films and Sentai Filmworks released Grave of the Fireflies, but Ocean Waves has never been released on home video in North America.
Optimum Releasing released the Ocean Waves special on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2010, and Madman Entertainment released it on DVD in Australia later that year.
GKIDS screened Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke film on January 5 and January 9. The screening celebrated the film's 20th anniversary and included the Ghibli-animated music video "On Your Mark," which had not previously been released in North America.
The distributor's screenings of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away anime film ranked #5 at the United States box office in December. The screening celebrated the film's 15th anniversary and included the short film "Ghiblies: Episode 2," which had not previously been released in North America.
GKIDS' website lists it as the current distributor for all full-length Studio Ghibli films except Tales from Earthsea. The distributor recently released Studio Ghibli and Isao Takahata's Only Yesterday (Omohide Poro Poro) for the first time in North America; the film was included in Tokuma Shoten and Disney's distribution deal but never released. GKIDS' theatrical release of the film had grossed US$121,638 in the United States as of February 2016.
Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.
