On Sunday, tickets for the anime movie Suzume (Suzume no Tojimari) had been purchased by more than 9.9 million people, grossing over 13.16 billion yen (about US$101 million). The movie spent its eleventh weekend at #4. In Japan, the movie is currently the 23rd highest-grossing movie of all time and the 10th highest-grossing anime film of all time in Japan.
The movie earned 1.88 billion yen (about US$13.49 million) in its first three days of release after debuting at No. 1 on November 11 and selling 1.33 million tickets.
Compared to Shinkai's highly acclaimed Your Name, which made 1,277,960,000 yen (about $12.51 million at the time) in its first three days, the movie sold 38.7% more tickets and made 47.4% more money. It also had the strongest opening three days of all of Shinkai's movies, with ticket sales and revenue up 14.8% and 14.4%, respectively, above Weathering With You.
Suzume Iwato, the movie's heroine, is voiced by actress Nanoka Hara. Hokuto Matsumura, a member of the SixTONES idol group, made his voice acting debut in the movie as Sota Munakata, a young guy who travels with Suzume as the "Door-Closing Master,".
The movie's screenplay and direction were both done by Shinkai. The original story is credited to him as well. The characters were created by Masayoshi Tanaka (Your Name, Weathering With You). The animation director for Garden of Words was Kenichi Tsuchiya (Your Name). The art director was Takumi Tanji (Children Who Chase Lost Voices). The film was made by Story Inc. and CoMix Wave Films. The movie is being released by TOHO. The movie's music is by RADWIMPS. The movie's soundtrack was created by RADWIMPS and Seattle-based Hollywood composer Kazuma Jinnouchi (Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045, RWBY: Ice Queendom). Toaka, a TikTok performer, sang "Suzume," one of the movie's theme songs.
The film's score by RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi is up for Best Music at the 46th Japan Academy Film Prize Association awards.
Suzume will have its world premiere at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, also known as the Berlinale, from February 16 to February 26. The movie will be the first anime feature film to screen in the competition since Spirited Away in 2002. It will be part of the festival's Competition section. Shinkai, Nanoka Hara, and Genki Kawamura, a producer, will all be there.
About Suzume
In the peaceful Kyushu village where Suzume, 17, first meets a young guy who says, "I'm looking for a door," the narrative of Suzume begins. What she discovers is a single battered door that is standing upright amidst the debris as though it were safe from whatever catastrophe had taken place. Suzume grabs the knob because she seems drawn to its power.
Doors start opening one after the other across the entirety of Japan, unleashing destruction upon anyone who is nearby. Souta is widely known as a "Closer" because of his job of traveling throughout Japan and locking doors shut.
However, as soon as the door is opened, the enigmatic white cat with the nickname "AristoCat" appears in front of them. "I love Suzume, but you [Souta] are in the way," it said, and as soon as it said those words, Souta transformed into Suzume's childhood chair, which she has treasured ever since she was a child.
As Souta follows the cat posing as a chair with three legs, Suzume chases after him in a panic. On their mission to close doors, they eventually set off on a journey together that will take them from Kyushu through Shikoku, Kansai, and ultimately Tokyo.
During her travels, Suzume meets a number of people who assist her in the same way that she assists them. But when she finally reached the end of her journey, she was confronted with a particular reality that had been ignored for a very long time.