One of the more notable pieces of anime news recently was the announcement that “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” had become the first anime film in decades to reach the top spot in the US box office. Having recently taken a look at how anime films perform in the Japanese box office, I found myself quite intrigued by this success and thought it might be interesting to take a look at anime films at the US box office and how successful they’ve been.
The first anime film to be released theatrically in the United States of America was Panda and the Magic Serpent, sometimes referred to as The Tale of the White Serpent. Originally released in Japan in 1958, Panda and the Magic Serpent was the first anime film to be released in colour and was later released in the US in 1961. The US release of this film, along with two other anime films that year, Magic Boy and Alakazam the Great, underperformed at the US box office, either being box office failures or mild successes at best.
It wouldn’t be until about a decade later that the next two anime films would be released in US theatres. In 1970, the first film of the Animerama trilogy, the 1969 film “A Thousand and One Nights” was released in America with 28 minutes of footage removed and performed very poorly at the box office. This was later followed by a release of the second Animerama film, the 1970 “Cleopatra”, in the US in 1972. The film was retitled “Cleopatra: Queen of Sex”, saw numerous edits and was falsely advertised as the first X-rated animated film in the US, a title which rightfully belongs to Ralph Bakshi’s “Fritz the Cat”, and bombed hard at the box office.
In 1985, the 1984 film “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” was released in the US box office as “Warriors of the Wind”. This version of the film was heavily edited, seeing 22 minutes of film removed, character’s names were changed and many of the more complicated themes and messages were changed. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find any information on how successful/unsuccessful this film was in the box office but the handling of this film would go on to influence more loyal releases of Studio Ghibli films in the future.
In 1989, Streamline Pictures acquired the rights to distribute the 1988 film “Akira” in US theatres. Despite a limited release, it’s estimated that Akira broke $1 million at the US box office and, while a relatively small amount compared to many other films, this box office gross proved to be quite successful for the time. Streamline Pictures continued to release other anime films to the US box office such as the 1984 film “Lensman”, the Lupin the Third film “The Castle of Cagliostro”, the 1987 film “Neo-Tokyo” and many others.
However, I think it’s fair to say that the first giant US box office success for an anime film occurred with the release of Pokemon: The First Movie. Released at the height of the Pokemon craze, the film ended up grossing about $85 million in the US and, for the first time ever, managed to debut at number 1 in the box office. Its sequel, Pokemon: The Movie 2000, was released in the US in 2000 and, while not as successful as the first Pokemon film, managed to gross about $44 million.
While significantly less successful than the Pokemon films, the 1999 release of Princess Mononoke was still notable for managing to break over $2 million in the US box office and, at the time, becoming the most successful non-Pokemon anime film in America. However, the 2002 release of Spirited Away proved to be even more successful, grossing over $10 million in the US. This was assisted by an Oscar win at the 2003 Academy Awards and the film’s success contributed to the popularity of both Studio Ghibli and anime in the United States. Later Studio Ghibli films proved to be quite successful in the US with Howl’s Moving Castle grossing close to $5 million, Ponyo grossing about $15 million, Arrietty grossing about $19 million and The Wind Rises grossing about $5 million.
Interestingly, the Dragon Ball films have also proved to be quite successful in the US. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods was released in America in 2014 and managed to gross about $2.5 million. A later film “Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F'” was released in the US in 2015 and managed to outdo Battle of Gods, grossing about $8 million. The most recent Dragon Ball film “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” became quite the box office success in America with a 2019 box office gross of over $30 million!
Finally, I’d like to talk about two other notable anime films at the US box office. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising was released in America in early 2020 and managed to gross an impressive $13 million throughout its run. However, this success has been overshadowed by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train which only opened in the US in late April of this year and, as of the writing of this article, has grossed a very impressive $34 million, becoming the highest grossing anime film in the US that is not related to Pokemon.
While US box office figures for anime films still pale compared to Hollywood films, the amount of money that these films can end up grossing is not to be underestimated. It also seems that anime films are becoming gradually more and more popular at the US box office and, if they continue to be successful, more and more theatres will be eager to distribute these films, quite an exciting notion. Let me know your thoughts on how successful anime films have been at the US box office, whether you go to see anime films at the cinema, if there are any other notable examples that I have not mentioned and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!