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Miyazaki's Ponyo Falls to #16 with $1.2 Million

The Box Office Mojo website reports that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's Ponyo anime film has earned an estimated US$1,288,000 during the September 4-6 weekend. In its fourth weekend in American theaters, Ponyo falls from #13 to #16 at the box office as it faces three new films. With 890 theaters (10 more than last weekend), Ponyo has an estimated per-screen average of US$1,447. Ticket sales has dropped 31.8% from last weekend.

With a current estimated total of US$12,937,000, Ponyo is still the fifth highest grossing theatrical anime release in the United States, below Pokémon 3 - The Movie (US$17,052,128). The only anime films with higher American box office totals are the first three Pokémon movies and Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie. After their fourth full weekend of release, Princess Mononoke (1999) had earned US$1,187,089 on 41 theaters, Spirited Away (2002) had earned US$2,668,591 on 138 theaters, and Howl's Moving Castle (2005) had earned US$3,225,747 on 187 theaters. Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli were also responsible for Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle.

Ponyo's story follows an ordinary boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas in the English dub) and his friendship with Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), an unusual goldfish from the seas. The other English-language castmembers include Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, and Betty White. The Yahoo! Movies and Apple websites have been streaming the trailers.

David R. Ellis' The Final Destination topped the box office for the second weekend in a row, with approximately $12,435,000 in ticket sales. All about Steve, Gamer and Extract debuted in 2nd, 4th and 10th spots respectively.

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