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'Your Name' conquers Chinese film market

china.org.cn / chinagate.cn by Zhang Rui, December 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Record-breaking Japanese anime feature "Your Name" continues smashing records in China and worldwide.

A poster of "Your Name" [Photo / China.org.cn]



It cleared 287 million yuan (US$41.73 million) in just three days of its opening weekend in China and topped box offices charts, beating the previous week's blockbuster topper, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," a Harry Potter spin-off which grossed 218 million yuan in its first week and over 500 million yuan in total thus far.

"Your Name," a fantasy animation written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, tells a romantic love story between two young people who magically switch their souls in their bodies.

Its first day box office takings were as high as 75.9 million yuan, breaking the opening day record of 2D animation features of all films in China, the midnight box office haul (2.24 million yuan) record and opening record for any Japanese film in China. "Your Name" took in 119 million yuan on Saturday, becoming the first 2D animated feature to break 100 million yuan mark in a single day as well taking the record for the first Japanese film and the first non-Hollywood film to go beyond 100 million yuan mark in the Chinese market.

In its homeland, "Your Name" has grossed 19.96 billion yen (US$175.6) in total and will become the second film in Japan to gross more than 20 billion yen. It is now the second highest grossing Japanese home-made film, second only to Miyazaki Hayao's award-winning "Spirited Away" (30.40 billion yen).

The film was awarded by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards as the Best Animated Film on Dec. 4.

"Your Name" has become a phenomenon in China receiving fantastic reviews. Chinese film market analysts believe the animated feature will become the highest grossing Japanese film in China soon, surpassing the previous record holder "Stand by Me Doraemon" which grossed 530 million yuan. The most optimistic estimates say the film could gross more than 1 billion yuan in China.

Makoto Shinkai's film was released in China on Dec. 2. Its Chinese distributor is China's film giant Enlight Media, which reportedly bought the release rights of "Your Name" in China for just US$2.8 million.