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.
The 2003–2005 Japan Window
298 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. Howl's Moving Castle sits at position #13.
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
The 2000s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 2000s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Howl's Moving Castle premiered. 1020 total titles in this decade from Japan.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 59m runtime, production spent $202K per minute on screen and earned $2.0M per minute back.
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%).
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%.