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Rachael Lillis, a voice actor who starred in many “Pokémon” films and series as the characters Misty, Jessie and more, died Aug. 10. She was 46.

Lillis was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2024. Veronica Taylor, Lillis’ “Pokémon” co-star who voiced the lead character Ash Ketchum, posted a statement on X Monday morning that announced Lillis’ death.

“It is with a very heavy heart that I share the news of the passing of Rachael Lillis on Saturday evening, 10 August 2024,” Taylor wrote. “Rachael was an extraordinary talent, a bright light that shone through her voice whether speaking or singing. She will be forever remembered for the many animated roles she played, with her iconic performances as ‘Pokemon’s’ Misty and Jessie being the most beloved. Rachael was so thankful for all the generous love and support that was given to her as she battled cancer. It truly made a positive difference. Her family...

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film The Boy And The Heron has achieved another milestone as it climbed the ladder to become the third highest earning anime film in the North American box office, surpassing Pokémon the Movie 2000.

According to Box Office Mojo’s latest estimations, The Boy and the Heron has amassed an impressive total of approximately $44.24 million Usd in the United States. This achievement propels it past the previous third-place holder, Pokémon the Movie 2000, which had garnered $43.8 million Usd.

Currently, Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train secures the second position with $49.5 million Usd, and Pokémon: The First Movie holds the lead with $85.7 million Usd.

The Boy and the Heron earned Usd 1,817,762 in its opening weekend in the U.S. and came in at the 12th position in the box office.

The movie has also been a critical success, bagging the Best Animated Film...

The Beekeeper and Mean Girls were locked in a race for number one at the North American box office, although the more interesting results saw most of last week’s Oscar nominees surge after theatrical expansions or re-releases.

Amazon MGM Studios’ Jason Statham thriller The Beekeeper earned an estimated $7.4m and Paramount’s Mean Girls musical delivered $7.3m in their third weekends in a slow session overall. The studios will report final numbers on Monday when the box office winner will be determined.

Warner Bros’ Wonka ranked third on $5.9m for an excellent $195.2m in its seventh weekend, followed by...

The Beekeeper and Mean Girls were locked in a race for number one at the North American box office, although the more interesting results saw most of last week’s Oscar nominees surge after theatrical expansions or re-releases.

Amazon MGM Studios’ Jason Statham thriller The Beekeeper earned an estimated $7.4m and Paramount’s Mean Girls musical delivered $7.3m in their third weekends in a slow session overall. The studios will report final numbers on Monday when the box office winner will be determined.

Warner Bros’ Wonka ranked third on $5.9m for an excellent $195.2m in its seventh weekend, followed by...

Toho International’s Godzilla Minus One – with an Oscar nom and a $2.6 million estimated three-day gross – was no. 10 at the U.S. box office in week 9, and hit a milestone Friday. The giant radioactive reptile, on 2,001 screens, became the third highest-grossing foreign-language film Stateside passing Hero and Parasite.

Godzilla’s cume will pass an estimated $55 million this weekend.

The film by Takashi Yamazaki, starring Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe was on about 2,050 screens. The number is quadruple last week’s footprint as it prepares to exit theaters with a bang on Feb. 1. That gives it only a few days to overtake the no. 2 foreign-language film spot currently held by Life Is Beautiful. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in first place remains pretty un-catchable.

Meanwhile, Bollywood has a big one. Hindi action thriller Fighter from Viva Entertainment grossed $3.74 million in 662 locations, for a no. five spot at the...

The domestic box office isn’t going to get interesting until next weekend when Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II and Disney’s Cruella launch the summer season. From that point on, we largely won’t have any weekends where the major studios are taking a break from releasing wide entries, which is the case this weekend as Lionsgate’s Spiral: From the Book of Saw repeats in its second frame with $1.38M yesterday, -63%, and an expected 3-day of $4.7M, -46% (actually a pretty good hold for a horror film which typically drops -60% or greater) and a running total of $15.9M. Spiral is booked at 2,997 theaters (+186). All the action is overseas where Universal’s F9 is heading to $160M this weekend in 8 markets, charged by China where it’s set to become the second biggest opener for the studio and the Fast franchise, already counting $105M. F9 parks itself at U.

Both films are estimated to earn around $6 million in their second weekend

It’s round 2 between Warner Bros./New Line’s “Mortal Kombat” and Funimation’s “Demon Slayer,” and this time, “Demon Slayer” may actually come out as the victor.

After an opening weekend where the anime film came surprisingly close to topping “Mortal Kombat” for the No. 1 spot, industry estimates have “Demon Slayer” just edging out the video game adaptation with $6.4 million from 1,915 theaters in its second weekend compared to $6.2 million from 3,113 theaters for “Kombat.” With such close margins, it will come down to final totals on Monday to determine who ends up on top on the charts.

Regardless, both films are showing the kind of frontloaded box office performance analysts were expecting with drop-offs of over 70% from their opening weekends. With R ratings and very specific lore that can shut out most casual audiences, both “Kombat” and “Slayer...

Rarely are transformational works well-regarded in their time. Vincent Canby of The New York Times compared The Godfather Part II’s dialogue to “cartoon captions,” and wrote that the movie was “stitched together from leftover parts” — like Frankenstein’s monster. The Fast and the Furious was called “Rebel Without a Cause without a cause” by Rita Kempley of The Washington Post. Rolling Stone’s David Fear claimed Detective Pikachu “is strictly for the fans, in the best and worst possible ways.”

It’s claims like these that seem reasonable, but time proves them wrong,...

’Avengers: Endgame’ aims to hold top spot for third week.

Warner Bros’ Pokémon Detective Pikachu faces a daunting task in trying to wrest the box office crown from Avengers: Endgame this weekend.

The feature is the latest instalment in the popular Japanese franchise, with Ryan Reynolds lending his voice and motion-captured face to the small rodent-like creature with powerful electrical abilities. It is the first Pokémon film to mix animation with live action.

In this story, a former Pokémon trainer Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) finds a talking Pikachu that once belong to his father, and wants to be a detective.

Daniel Kurland Feb 11, 2019

After the success of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, it's time distributors consider true wide releases for anime films not named Pokémon.

Anime’s presence in North America has evolved over the years, and we’ve come a long way from the days when “Japanimation” was just a morbid curiosity and guilty pleasure. The perceived fringe animation has grown into a genuinely enjoyable and thrilling source of content for Western audiences, and while anime has become much more popular with the mainstream over the past few years, the current content out there has hit new heights. Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the latest chapter in the ongoing Dragon Ball series, has made over $30 million domestically (with a global total of over $100 million), which makes it the third highest-grossing anime film of all-time in North America.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly has found very real success, but its numbers hold even...

Streaming platform Twitch is working in tandem with The Pokémon Company to host a few lengthy “Pokémon“-themed marathons.

The “massive” marathon will feature 932 episodes live-streamed as part of several different sessions set to take place from Aug. 27 throughout 2019. According to Twitch, it’s the service’s longest viewing event to hit the platform thus far, and will utilize special Twitch-exclusive Extensions with interactive overlays so that viewers can collect badges while watching.

The “Twitch Presents: Pokémon Badge Collector” Extension will offer badges for players to snap up while poring over the streaming episodes in an effort to place higher on special leaderboards created for the event.

Twitch community members can join in on the fun when “Pokémon: Indigo League” kicks off on Aug. 27 at 10:00 Am Pdt for audiences in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latam, and Australia, with respective language dubs available in participating areas. Series from “Pokémon:...