Sold 688,000 tickets during weekend on the way to projected 6 billion yen (US$58.8 million)

Japanese film journalist Hirō Otaka posted on his Twitter account on Monday that Makoto Shinkai 's new your name. ( Kimi no Na wa. ) anime film has earned 1,277,960,000 yen (about US$12.51 million) in three days since opening last Friday. In addition, the film's official Twitter account noted that the film ranked #1 on Saturday and Sunday by selling 688,000 tickets for 930 million yen (US$9.1 million). The film opened in Japan on 301 screens, and TOHO predicts that it will gross a total of 6 billion yen (US$58.8 million).

The film earned about 770,000,000 yen (about US$7.5 million) and sold about 590,000 tickets in its first two days on Friday and Saturday. The film earned about 348 million yen (US$3.41 million) on Friday, and about 422 million yen (US$4.13 million) on Saturday.

The film held its world premiere on July 3 in Los Angeles during Anime Expo, and it is slated to open in 85 countries and regions.

The film's "story of miracles and love" revolves around Mitsuha and Taki. Mitsuha is a female high school student who lives in a rural town nestled deep in the mountains. Her father is the mayor and isn't at home much, and she lives with her elementary school-aged little sister and her grandmother. Mitsuha has an honest personality, but she doesn't like the customs of her family's Shinto shrine, nor does she like her father participating in an election campaign. She laments that she lives in a confined rural town, and yearns for the wonderful lifestyle of living in Tokyo. Taki is a male high school student who lives in central Tokyo. He spends time with his friends, works part-time at an Italian restaurant, and is interested in architecture and fine arts. One day, Mitsuha has a dream where she is a young man. Taki also has a dream where he is a female high school student in a town in the mountains that he has never been to. What is the secret to their dreams of personal experience?

Shinkai also wrote the script for the film. Masashi Ando ( Spirited Away , When Marnie Was There , Paprika ) served as the animation director and Masayoshi Tanaka ( anohana , The Anthem of the Heart , Toradora! ) designed the characters. CoMix Wave Inc. animated the film. Shinkai published the original novel that inspired the film on June 18.

Source: Eiga.com via Yara-on!, Nijimen