The U.S. opening weekend for Studio Ghibli's The Secret World of Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arrietty) is even turning heads in Japan, with a final tally of $8.1 million. Arrietty opened on 1,522 screens and finished off the weekend at #8 in the box office, making it the biggest stateside bow for a Ghibli film.
The Hollywood Reporter compares this to Spirited Away's release in 2002, when it only opened on a couple dozen screens and pulled in less than $500,000 on its opening weekend. Spirited Away went on to earn more than $10 million after it won an Oscar.