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Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron Opens in U.K. and Ireland Cinemas on Boxing Day
posted on by Andrew Osmond
The film was jointly acquired for the UK by Elysian Film Group, Anonymous Content and Bleecker Street. Elysian Film Group distributed one previous Studio Ghibli film, Earwig and the Witch, in the UK.
The film's story takes place during World War II. After Mahito loses his mother during the firebombings of Tokyo, he and his father move to the countryside. There, Mahito's father gets remarried to his late mother's pregnant sister. As Mahito struggles with his situation, he encounters a talking heron and enters another world based on a promise that he can meet his mother again.
The film sold 1.003 million tickets and earned about US$13.2 million in its first three days in Japan. It opened simultaneously on IMAX with its general release in Japan on July 14. The film earned more than Miyazaki's celebrated Academy Award-winning 2001 film Spirited Away in its first four days, and earned 50% more than his 2013 film The Wind Rises. The film exceeded US$1.7 million from 44 IMAX screens, which is a new three-day opening record, according to entertainment news website Deadline.
In the Japanese-language version, Soma Santoki, who is 18 years old, voices the main character Mahito Maki. Takuya Kimura makes a special appearance. The cast also includes Masaki Suda, Kou Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Sawako Agawa, Karen Takizawa, Shinobu Ōtake, Jun Kunimura, Kaoru Kobayashi, and Shohei Hino.
In the English dub, Mahito is voiced by Luca Padovan and the Heron by Robert Pattinson. The dub voice-cast also includes Gemma Chan, Karen Fukuhara, Florence Pugh, Mark Hamill, Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe and Dave Bautista.
Miyazaki is credited with the original work, in addition to directing the film and writing the script. Takeshi Honda (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Rebuild of Evangelion films) is the animation director. Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) composed the music. Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki is the producer. Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man, My Hero Academia, March comes in like a lion) performs the theme song "Chikyūgi" (Globe).
