Fantasy adventure is now the 8th highest grossing anime film in U.S.

The Box Office Mojo website reported that Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli's anime film The Secret World of Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty) is earning an estimated US$6,400,000 during its opening weekend in the United States to land at #9 on the box office chart. With 1,522 theaters, the film release has an estimated per-screen average of US$4,205. After its first weekend, Arrietty is now the 8th highest grossing theatrical anime release in the United States, above Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Pokemon 4ever, and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.

Here is how the various Ghibli films have performed in the United States on their first weekend:

Film Year Opening Weekend Theaters Per-Screen Average Princess Mononoke 1999 US$144,446 8 US$18,055 Spirited Away 2002 US$449,839 26 US$17,301 Howl's Moving Castle 2005 US$427,987 36 US$11,888 Ponyo 2009 US$3,585,852 927 US$3,868 Tales From Earthsea 2010 US$20,614 5 US$4,123 The Secret World of Arrietty 2012 US$6,400,000 1,522 US$4,205

The number 1 film in the United States in weekend estimates is Safe House , although that may change once the final numbers are calculated.

As of February 12, four weekends into its limited U.S. release, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos has a box office total of US$170,217.

In his directorial debut, Yonebayashi re-imagines Mary Norton's 1952 novel The Borrowers by moving the story to a Tokyo suburb. The story revolves around Ar rietty, a member of the "little people" who live under the floorboards of a regular human family's home. Arrietty's family tries to remain hidden from the human "beans." Walt Disney Pictures is giving the film the widest opening for a Studio Ghibli film in North America to date.

Update: Arrietty's name in third sentence corrected. Thanks, karenai_hana.

Update: Box Office Mojo reports that the final four-day tally of the film is US$8,684,864, an increase of US$582,864 from the estimate. The final three-day tally is US$6,446,395, an increase of US$46,395. Thanks, bravetailor.