“The Boy and the Heron” opened with $12.8 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, the first Japanese anime film to top the domestic charts here, according to industry estimates released Sunday.
The first film in 10 years from Hayao Miyazaki, the writer and director of such genre classics as 1997’s “Princess Mononoke” and 2001’s “Spirited Away,” “The Boy and the Heron” topped “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” which grossed $9.4 million in its fourth weekend in theaters, Comscore reported.
Third place went to “Godzilla Minus One,” the latest Japanese entry in the long-running monster franchise, which took in $8.3 million Friday through Sunday in its second weekend in theaters in the United States and Canada.
“Trolls Band Together” was fourth with $6.2 million in its fourth weekend, followed by “Wish,” which made $5.3 million in its third weekend.
“Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé” dropped sharply from its $21 million opening weekend and took in $5 million for sixth place.
Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases, as estimated by Comscore, were “Napoleon” ($4.2 million), “Waitress: The Musical” ($3.2 million), “Animal” ($2.2 million) and “The Shift” ($2.1 million).
This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $71 million. The year-to-date total is $8.476 billion — an increase of 23% over the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.
