Howl's Moving Castle number two all-time at Japanese BO

By Mark Schilling

Tokyo: According to distributor Toho, Hayao Miyazaki's animated hit Howl's Moving

Castle has passed Miyazaki's 1997 Princess Mononoke to become the second most

popular film ever released in Japan. By March 1, on its 102th day on release, the film

recorded 14,220,000 admissions, breaking the mark that Princess Mononoke had needed

364 days to set.

Toho did not announce the film's gross, but according to figures compiled by Eiren

(Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan), it earned Y20 billion ($192 million) in

2004, following its November 20 release.

The all-time record is held by yet another Miyazaki film, Spirited Away, which reached

23,500,000 admissions in 2001 first run. The film grossed Y30.5 billion ($293 million).

This means that Miyazaki films now hold the first three spots in the all-time admissions

record column. Toho plans to keep Howl's in the theatres at least until the Golden Week

holiday starting at the end of April, meaning that the film still has a chance to challenge

Spirited Away for the top spot.