Forum - View topicNEWS: Miyazaki's The Wind Rises Opens Wide in N. America
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wohdin
Posts: 352 |
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Why is this film not a nation-wide release? As far as film goes, this isn't some kind of "niche" title. Pretty much everyone who even knows anyone who has ever heard of Miyazaki almost certainly will want to see this. They're making a huge mistake not bringing this to a full theater release.
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Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2284 Location: In front of my computer |
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I'm also disappointed that it's not playing anywhere near me. The nearest theater with it is an hour away, and I really doubt I can convince my fiancee to want to drive that far just so I can see a movie.
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Because by having it playing on screens reduces the number of other films you can play, films that will more likely bring an audience. It was never going to get a typical wide release because theaters would consider it a waste of time and money. You're also overestimating the American fanbase size or even ones knowledgeable of Miyazaki/Ghibli films. Besides that, it has no chance come Sunday and families would rather take their kids to Lego or Frozen, as this really isn't even for children. |
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koinosuke
 Posts: 271 Location: Fukushima, Japan |
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Although I'm also a good 80% certain that Frozen will be taking home the Oscar, I'm actually not going to write off The Wind Rises's chances completely yet. Reading a ton of western reviews, there actually seems to be a lot of passion from critics regarding the quality of the movie, and quite a few suggestions that it should win. Of course, it's quite likely that members of the academy won't even have seen The Wind Rises and will certainly have seen Frozen, so it really would be a dark horse... |
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 7912 Location: Anime News Network Technodrome |
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There is a 0% chance Frozen will lose the Oscar on Sunday. Also, 500 screens is OK for a PG-13, adult-targeted animated film. Arrietty opened on 1200 and was dramatically more family-friendly and that only managed to pull in about $20 million domestic. It's what they felt was reasonable. Wind Rises will likely be out on Bluray in the next couple months anyway. |
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JackCox
 Posts: 386 |
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Had the pleasure of seeing this earlier this week, I'm in Toronto and so I got the limited release. It was absolutely fantastic.
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RealJpoe
 Posts: 7 |
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I was really surprised that my local theater chain picked it up in at least one of the five they have around town. I usually have to drive 2 hours to Atlanta for these screenings & that is still a 50/50 shot of an anime film playing there.
The crowd seemed diverse enough at the 3pm showing I went to. A few guys like me in their 20's, a group of older maybe late 30's women & a few young high school kids. As for the film I enjoyed it even though I felt it had a very uneven pace. Need more time to let it sink in before I make a final judgment call. |
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Levitz9
 Posts: 1022 Location: Puerto Rico |
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Oddly enough, it's not the "zOMG, WWII! Kamikaze planes!" thing that bugs me: it's that the movie decided that making up a sickly wife was a good idea for the story.
I'll make up my mind when I actually go see the movie, but my philosophy towards this is "if you need to embellish a story, you shouldn't be telling it, and you shouldn't be telling it." Whether or not the movie needed a romanticized wife dying of TB is something I'll leave for when I see the film, but it reeks of Miyazaki doing his thing where he doesn't let details like writing get in the way of his really, really pretty vistas and heart-rending human drama. I'll get off his lawn now. |
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Lycosyncer
Posts: 526 |
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As good as The Wind Rises is as a film, the subject matter behind it isn't going to be a crowd pleaser and not everyone is going to like it for obvious reasons.
As for which film I am rooting for to get that Best Animated Film Oscar coming this Sunday, I am so rooting for Frozen to win and plus, "Let It Go" better win that Oscar for Best Original Song too! |
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aoi yuuki fanboy
 Posts: 51 |
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I saw this tonight, it was good. I wish they expanded on Jiro's ego problems and fleshed out Satomi. It still managed to interest me in airplanes. The 'controversy' is nonsense, the film was very anti-war. Go see this, and hope it wins over the pandering that Frozen is.
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Mister Ryan Andrews
 Posts: 219 |
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No audience. Parents want to take their kids to see Disney Princesses or Lego toys, not WWII planes and war themes. That leaves the only people who will see it anime fans and artsy fartsy film goers, which isn't enough to justify huge nation-wise theater slots. People need to expect any anime movie is going to have a limited running because of subject material and cultural differences with the audiences. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14761 |
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon needed a ton of good word of mouth to get going, and even then it took a while. Look back at its theater count record: Week 1 - 16 theaters Week 2 - 31 Week 3 - 143 Week 4 - 162 Week 5 - 172 Week 6 - 693 Week 7 - 837 Week 8 - 868 About 900 theaters is when it's considered wide release, so it took 2 months. That's not a lot of risk.
A G-rated film based on an English book with an universal story. Also remember, even many Japanese youths were bored with Wind Rises:
It's just more limited appeal. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15306 |
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mgo:
If you're talking about CTHD, it still started out in limited release. Pokenatic: Ponyo is also for children, and as such, justifies the release it got, because it helps boost sales of the DVD/BD at Wal-Mart. Hiro: RE: Arrietty. See my above comment about Ponyo. Also, Disney had nothing to do with Poppy Hill's distribution here. woh:
It's niche, in terms of subject matter, even in Japan. walw:
Still, it had a good first weekend here. Zac:
There should've been a 0% chance that Beauty and the Beast lost the Best Picture Oscar, too. 
That's as far as Persepolis got, too. Though that one seems like it's still for younger audiences, but with slightly more mature subject matter. Levitz:
It's not any different as a plot device than the ones in every other Oscar-bait movie. 
Lyco:
And yet, ironically, a majority of American viewers seem to be going with it. My feeling is our own experience being trapped in a war machine makes us a little more sympathetic to the Japanese than we would've been in the past. Mister:
Parents would probably wanna see it, but they have to explain to their kids why smoking is bad-assuming the kids stay awake long enough to notice. 
enurtsol: I wouldn't say Arrietty has a 'universal' story, but it does use a standard fantasy template. And yeah, I can see why even kids in Japan would not be able to relate to The Wind Rises. The war in itself must seem like ancient history to them, while any antebellum event must feel like the Stone Age in an era of texting. Plus, Japan's no longer even the second biggest economic power, and the whole national pride over manufacturing thing probably took a hit ages ago. So a plane with the rising sun probably means as much to that generation as street racing vehicles with those gaudy moe stickers. |
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Lycosyncer
Posts: 526 |
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@GATSU
I'm not just talking about the American perspective, I am also talking about China and South Korea's perspective and suffice to say, I don't exactly blame them for accusing this film for glorifying Imperial Japan and we all know how rather tense the relationship with China/South Korea and Japan really is because Jiro after all, did design the warplanes and was used during the attacks in Pearl Harbor and the Kamikaze attacks all thanks to the help of Chinese and Korean slave labor to make these things and it wouldn't surprise me if the film is banned in China and South Korea. Don't get me wrong, The Wind Rises is a good film but I personally feel that it is not Miyazaki's best. Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke are in my opinion, his much better films. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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It was up against Silence of the Lambs though, which is hardly a forgotten movie that won as a fluke. I am pretty sure one of my local theatres is playing this, since they had the movie poster up for it. But I honestly don't know how much appeal there is for me, given touchy subject matter and the fact that most Ghibli movies were, for me, at best "okay." |
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