Japan Howl's Moving Castle returned 9.8× its production cost, earning $236.0M against a $24.0M budget — one of the highest-return Japan films in our catalog.
Synopsis
ハウルの動く城
“The two lived there.”
Sophie, a young milliner, is turned into an elderly woman by a witch who enters her shop and curses her. She encounters a wizard named Howl and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #194 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (96th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +1.5 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Fantasy productions specifically: #88 of 1,274 (top 7%).
Audience Engagement
8,720 audience reviews — more than 100% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 98th percentile among Japan films.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 59m runtime, production spent $202K per minute on screen and earned $2.0M per minute back.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Howl's Moving Castle. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
3 sharedJujutsu Kaisen 0
★ 8.2 · Japan
3 sharedKiki's Delivery Service
★ 7.8 · Japan
3 sharedLittle Witch Academia
★ 7.1 · Japan
2 sharedBlack Clover: Sword of the Wizard King
★ 8.1 · Japan
2 sharedDemon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train
★ 8.3 · Japan
2 sharedThat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond
★ 7.7 · Japan
Other Titles From Studio Ghibli
Fantasy + Animation in Japan
1095 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Fantasy and Animation genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Howl's Moving Castle itself).
The 2003–2005 Japan Window
Among 298 Japan films we catalog from this window, Howl's Moving Castle places #13 — near the top of its class.
The 2000s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 2000s in Japan, 1020 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Howl's Moving Castle premiered alongside 95 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 95 other Japan films in 2004.
The 1623rd Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Howl's Moving Castle, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- based on young adult novel · 3
- scarecrow · 2
- body exchange · 2
- hatter · 1
- witch · 22
- curse · 17
- rain · 15
- steampunk · 10
- flying · 7
- castle · 6
- bakery · 6
- anime · 711
- demon · 45
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Studio Ghibli, dentsu Music And Entertainment, Mitsubishi, Nippon Television Network Corporation, TFC |
| Runtime | 1h 59m |
| Release Date | September 9, 2004 |
| IMDb | tt0347149 |
| Official Site | howlugokueiga.seesaa.net |
External Catalogs
Questions Answered
Was Howl's Moving Castle profitable?
Yes — Howl's Moving Castle earned $236.0M against a production budget of $24.0M, a return of 9.8× its cost.
How highly rated is Howl's Moving Castle?
Among Japan Asian filmss in this catalog, Howl's Moving Castle ranks #194 of 4579 — in the top 4%.