Belle is now director Mamoru Hosoda's highest grossing film in the United States.
As reported by Anime News Network, distributor GKIDS has announced that Belle has taken in over $3 million USD during its first two weeks of release in the United States. The movie earned $2 million during its opening weekend. That number makes it the biggest commercial success for Hosoda in the territory; his previous movie, the Academy Award-nominated Mirai, earned $812,000 during its American theatrical run in 2018. GKIDS brought Belle to select IMAX theaters on Jan. 12, followed by regular screenings on Jan. 14.
Belle is also Hosoda's most successful film in Japan, where it earned 6.5 billion yen (about $57 million USD). The animated movie was the third highest-grossing film of the year, finishing behind the latest entries in two of Japan's most popular anime franchises, Evangelion 3.0 + 1.01: Thrice Upon a Time and Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet, which took first and second place respectively.
The film has been a critical success as well: after receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews in Japan, the movie made its international debut at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it earned a 14-minute standing ovation from the event's audience. Hosoda's latest work has been given a Fresh rating from reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with a 95% approval rating from both professional critics and audiences alike.
Belle tells the story of Suzu Naito, a teenage girl in a rural Japanese town who dreams of becoming a famous singer, but is held back by her shyness and the trauma over her mother's death. Suzu's life changes when she joins the virtual world of U, a virtual social network that hides users' identities behind avatars based on their biometrics and latent abilities. In U, Suzu is able to sing in front of others without hesitation and becomes known as Belle, an international diva with billions of fans. Belle's newfound stardom, however, also brings her into contact with The Dragon, a user with a monstrous appearance who is also one of U's most wanted fugitives.
Mamoru Hosoda originally began his career in the 1990s at Toei Animation, where he worked on shows such as One Piece and Digimon Adventure. Following his time at that company, Hosoda joined Madhouse, the animation studio behind Perfect Blue and Death Note, where he directed critically lauded films like 2006's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and 2009's Summer Wars. In 2009, he co-founded Studio Chizu, a new animation house dedicated to producing his films. The studio has released four movies so far, which have all received similar levels of critical acclaim.
Source: Anime News Network
