New York, New York — January 4, 2012 — GKIDS, a distributor of award winning animation for both adults and family audiences, announced added screenings for their groundbreaking Studio Ghibli retrospective at New York’s IFC Center. The event opened at IFC on December 16, grossing $32,500 week one, $33,700 week two, and $43,900 for partial week three (through Tuesday). The event helped IFC set several single-day records for the complex (including biggest Monday, biggest Wednesday, and biggest Thursday) and contributed to the second busiest period since the theater opened.

With most shows selling out over the past weekend, IFC has added additional screenings of Princess Mononoke, Ocean Waves, Castle in the Sky, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and My Neighbor Totoro. The 25 year retrospective of films from Japan’s renowned Studio Ghibli is running four weeks on a full schedule, though Thursday, Jan 12. Fifteen feature films produced between 1984 and 2009 are included in both the subtitled and English dubbed versions (when available), with subtitled film playing evening screenings 6pm and later. Tickets for all films are now on sale at www.gkids.tv/intheaters

GKIDS recently entered into agreement with Studio Ghibli to handle North American theatrical distribution for their library of animated features. Following the IFC Center engagement, the retrospective opens LA on January 26 to February 12 with American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater and Aero Theater, with subsequent engagements scheduled in Boston, Toronto, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, Dallas, Austin, and other major North American markets throughout 2012. GKIDS is also planning limited releases of select Studio Ghibli titles, many of which have never been released theatrically in the US, beginning late 2012.

The Studio Ghibli agreement further solidifies GKIDS position as a home for award-winning animation. GKIDS began as a spin-off of New York International Children’s Film Festival and found early success securing a Best Animated Feature Oscar® nomination for The Secret of Kells in 2010. GKIDS has two films competing in the animated feature category for the upcoming Academy Awards®, A Cat in Paris and Oscar®-winning director Fernando Trueba’s Chico & Rita, which won Best Animated Feature at the European Film Awards. Chico & Rita is being released under GKIDS’ newly formed adult-skewing LumaFilms banner.

STUDIO GHIBLI FILMS — IFC CENTER — DEC 16 TO JAN 12

Title Director (Producer) Versions Year RT
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Hayao Miyazaki (Isao Takahata) Subtitled and dubbed (Uma Thurman, Shia LeBouf, Edward James Olmos, Mark Hamill) 1984 116 min
Castle in the Sky Hayao Miyazaki (Isao Takahata) Subtitled only 1986 126 min
My Neighbor Totoro Hayao Miyazaki (Toru Hara) Subtitled and dubbed (Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, Frank Welker) 1988 86 min
Kiki’s Delivery Service Hayao Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki) Subtitled and dubbed (Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, Janeane Garofalo, Debbie Reynolds) 1989 102 min
Only Yesterday Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled only 1991 118 min
The Ocean Waves Tomomi Mochizuki (Nozomu Takahashi) Subtitled only, digital only 1993 72 min
Porco Rosso Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Michael Keaton, Cary Elwes, Brad Garrett, David Ogden Stiers) 1992 94 min
Pom Poko Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (J.K. Simmons, Brian Posehn, Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio) 1994 119 min
Whisper of the Heart Yoshifumi Kondo (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Ashley Tisdale, Cary Elwes, Harold Gould, Brittany Snow) 1995 111 min
Princess Mononoke Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett Smith, John DiMaggio) 1997 134 min
My Neighbors the Yamadas Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (James Belushi, Molly Shannon, Tress MacNeille) 1999 111 min
Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan) 2001 125 min
The Cat Returns Hiroyuki Morita (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Elliott Gould, Tim Curry, Andy Richter, Kristen Bell, Avril Lavigne) 2002 75 min
Howl’s Moving Castle Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Dubbed (Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal) 2004 119 min
Ponyo Hiroyuki Morita (Toshio Suzuki) Dubbed (Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey) 2009 101 min

Chris Arrant

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