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Mary and the Witch's Flower Box Office Earns US$1.9 Million in U.S.
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Fathom Events revealed on Thursday that Studio Ponoc and Hiromasa Yonebayashi's Mary and The Witch's Flower anime film has earned a total box office gross of US$1.9 million in the United States. The total gross makes the film GKIDS' most successful theatrical release yet.
GKIDS and Fathom Events opened the anime in U.S. theaters on January 18. The film had earned US$1,167,431 on its January 18 opening day, and ranked #3 on that day's box office. The film earned US$1,497,483 as of January 21.
GKIDS and Fathom Events are planning a new two-day screening of the film on February 24 and 26 in select theaters.
The film opened in Japan last July and has earned 3 billion yen (US$28 million).
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who directed Studio Ghibli's Arrietty and When Marnie Was There, directed Mary and The Witch's Flower, and also penned the script for the film alongside Riko Sakaguchi, who wrote the screenplay for Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Takatsugu Muramatsu (When Marnie Was There) composed the music. Yoshiaki Nishimura is credited as producer. The staff page on the film's website further noted that many former staff from Studio Ghibli joined Ponoc in the film's production.
The BFG's Ruby Barnhill stars in the dub as the titular character Mary, and Kate Winslet (Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Mountain Between Us) plays school chairwoman Madam Mumblechook. Jim Broadbent, who co-starred with Winslet in Iris, plays Mumblechook's colleague Doctor Dee. Other cast members include Ewen Bremner, Lynda Baron, Rasmus Hardiker, Teresa Gallagher, Morwenna Banks, and Louis Ashbourne Serkis.
The film is based on Mary Stewart's book The Little Broomstick. Studio Ponoc scouted locations in Shropshire, U.K., the setting of the original novel. The Japanese version stars Hana Sugisaki (When Marnie Was There, live-action Blade of the Immortal) as Mary and Ryunosuke Kamiki (The Secret World of Arrietty's Sho, your name.'s Taki) as Peter.
