Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron Film Opens in Vietnam on December 1 – News
Film opened in Japan on July 14
© 2023 Studio Ghibli
Vietnamese cinema chain Lotte Cinema revealed on Tuesday that it will open Hayao Miyazaki‘s latest feature film The Boy and the Heron (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka, or literally How Do You Live?) in Vietnam on December 1.
The 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 opened in Japan on July 14, and sold 1.003 million tickets and earned about US$13.2 million in its first three days in Japan. The film sold 1.353 million tickets and earned 2.149 billion yen (about US$15.53 million) in its Friday-Monday long weekend (July 17 was the Marine Day holiday in Japan). The Boy and the Heron has earned a cumulative total of 8,333,397,800 yen (about US$55.60 million). It is the #74 highest-grossing film ever in Japan. The film had its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), as the event’s opening film on September 7 at Roy Thomson Hall. This marked the first time the festival opened with an animated film as well as the first time for a Japanese film.
The film is the first Studio Ghibli film to get a simultaneous IMAX release. The film is also screening in Dolby Atmos, Dolby Cinema, and DTS:X.
Miyazaki is credited with the original work, in addition to directing the film and writing the script. Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro) composed the music. Kenshi Yonezu (Chainsaw Man, My Hero Academia, March comes in like a lion) performs the theme song “Chikyūgi” (Globe).
