This movie was released in 221 cinemas across the UK. I e-mailed Optimum and it said it's grossed about £650,000 pounds - about 980000 dollars. This is much less than Spirited Away which grossed well over a million dollars on much fewer cinemas - and it was released initially on only 52 screens.
Why do Miyazaki films generally fail at the box office outside of Japan?
Disney does not market them well, and traditional animation is now more difficult to market anyway.
I have looked for every Ghibli film since Spirited Away at local theaters, and only two have come here (Arrietty and Ponyo). There is a theater 85 miles away that sometimes sneaks in Ghibli films, but even then only for a week.
Unfortunately, many western audiences dismiss anime in general as being kiddish (even though there are some that are very violent or explicit), and they won't even give it a chance. Those that do gain a true appreciation for how great anime is. Sadly, most westerners look down on these fans without even giving anime a chance. So anime fans tend to get a bad reputation, which only discourages people from even giving anime a try even more.
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