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Lu over the wall Anime Film Earns Estimated US$66,000 in 1st Weekend of U.S. Screenings

GKIDS' United States screening of Masaaki Yuasa and Science SARU's Lu over the wall anime film earned an estimated US$66,067 in its opening weekend. The film opened in 97 theaters last Friday.

The English dub stars Christine Marie Cabanos as Lu and Michael Sinterniklaas as Kai. Stephanie Sheh voices Yūho. The film is continuing to screen in theaters with both dubbed and subtitled screenings in the U.S. and Canada (Canadian screenings are currently only in Toronto with plans to later screen the film in Vancouver and Calgary).

Lu over the wall opened in Japan in May 2017, and won the top "Cristal for a Feature Film" award at the Annecy International Film Festival last June. The film also won the Silver Prize for the "Best Animated Feature Film" audience award at Montreal's Fantasia International Film Festival in August.

GKIDS describes the film:

From visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa, comes a joyously hallucinogenic but family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale about a little mermaid who comes ashore to join a middle-school rock band and propel them to fame. Kai is talented but adrift, spending his days sulking in a small fishing village after his family moves from Tokyo. His only joy is uploading songs he writes to the internet. When his classmates invite him to play keyboard in their band, their practice sessions bring an unexpected guest: Lu, a young mermaid whose fins turn to feet when she hears the beats, and whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance - whether they want to or not.

As Kai spends more time with Lu, he finds he is able to tell her what he is really thinking, and a bond begins to form. But since ancient times, the people in the village have believed that mermaids bring disaster and soon there is trouble between Lu and the townspeople, putting the town in grave danger. Winner of the Grand Prize at the prestigious Annecy Animation Festival, and premiering in English as an official selection of Sundance 2018, Lu over the wall is a toe-tapping, feel-good demonstration of Yuasa's genre-mixing mastery that will leave you humming long after you leave the theater.

Yuasa directed the film and penned the film alongside Reiko Yoshida. Eunyoung Choi served as the film's producer.

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.