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Pioneer Films Moves Forward With December 14 Opening for Shinkai's 'your name.'

Philippine film distributor Pioneer Films confirmed on Saturday that it will move forward with its Thursday, December 14 opening of Makoto Shinkai's your name. (Kimi no Na wa.) anime film.

Pioneer Films had previously announced that the December 14 date was tentative, noting that the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) may affect the film's screening schedule. The MMFF prohibits the screening of foreign films in the Philippines for its duration (usually December 25 to January 7) to facilitate the screening of local films. Only 3D, 4DX, and IMAX theaters are exempt from the ban on foreign films during this time period.

Shinkai's film has earned 20,006,188,400 yen (about US$175.81 million) and sold 15,391,716 tickets as of December 6, after 102 days in Japanese theaters. The film ranked at #2 in Japan in its 15th weekend.

The film surpassed the 19.6 billion yen earnings of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle anime film on Sunday, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the second highest-grossing Japanese film in Japan, and the second highest-grossing anime film in Japan. The only Japanese film to gross higher is Spirited Away (30.8 billion yen).

Shinkai's latest had topped the Japanese charts for nine straight weekends since it opened on August 26, and in its 10th weekend dropped to #2 to Death Note Light up the NEW world, before regaining the top spot in its 11th weekend. The film then stayed at the top spot in its 12th and 13th weekends, before dropping to #2 in its 14th weekend.