Miyazaki animation lifts revenues for domestic movies to record high+

TOKYO, Jan. 29 Kyodo - A hit animated film by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki helped boost box office revenues for Japanese movies to an all-time record in 2008, an industry group said Thursday.

Revenues for Japanese movies rose 22.4 percent from the previous year to 115.86
billion yen, while those for foreign movies declined 23.9 percent to 78.98
billion yen, the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan said. Combined
revenues slid 1.8 percent to 194.84 billion yen.
The revenue surge for Japanese movies was attributed to Miyazaki's ''Gake no Ue
no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea),'' which alone raked in 15.5 billion
yen. ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' was the top hit
among foreign movies with 5.7 billion yen.
Japanese movies had a 59.5 percent share of overall box office revenues in
2008, to 40.5 percent for foreign movies.
==Kyodo
2009-01-29 22:07:14