Why can't we get more anime films in the theaters?

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

Go to Japan.
They surely have some anime playing in theaters.

As far as the US market goes, even Miyazaki movies make little to no money (none made it past $20 million, half didn't even make 10).
Even crap like The Nut Job does better in the US.
The only ones that were successful were the first 3 Pokemon movies and that was when Pokemon was "the next best thing".

It's a damn shame that Miyazaki films don't make money in the states. I think we can agree that the colors and settings perfectly complement the whimsical fashion that the films invoke.

Regardless, other internationl films do well here from time to time so we may just have to find the big one that makes people go "huh, maybe Japan has stuff I like"

 

[CaptainMidlands]

There's a few issues which most in the thread have mentioned

1) Cost - Sadly it costs a lot of money to do theatre runs, add in to this the cost to license the anime itself and most companies will never take a risk due to this

2) Viewer ship - There is a view that in the west anime is still niche, this isn't helped by the large number of people who pirate as why would a company take a risk on X movie when Y anime was only brought by 20,000 people (but watched by 100,000 due to piracy).

3) Target films - Finally the OP posted a list of films they would like to see but I can only point to maybe two (Akira and Dragonball Z) which would have a remote chance of pulling people in to the cinema in large enough numbers, there is a reason why Ghibli films tend to get a broader release than anything else and its because they are designed to be enjoyed by everyone (the Disney of the East).

Now if people want to see more Anime at the Cinema, Funanimation recently announced a limited release for Battle of the Gods in the US. I suggest you find out where your nearest cinema is and make a visit. Even if you don't like DBZ, if they see a large portion of people going to watch that then they may start releasing more as nothing speaks louder to companies than pure hard numbers (admission and revenue)

 

[Casual Shinji]

So if Spirited Away was a lighting rod for anime because of its fairy tale concept which can ease people into Japanese shinto stuff, is it possible to use similar types of shows to make lighting strike twice?

I already mentioned Psycho Pass but it may be possible for Anime films to do reinterpretations of concepts and stories familiar to American audiences and mix in the Shinto in subtle ways. At that point, the curious would do research on the Shinto influences and may find other anime or Japanese media they would like

Disney producing bargain bin material at the time also helped though. I think Spirited Away was up against Treasure Planet and Lilo and Stitch at the time. And while not terrible movies, they certainly didn't have that Disney magic. This inturn probably made people gravitate towards Spirited Away. I think it was luck more than anything that granted it its popularity. No offence to the movie, since I think it's incredible, but it is anime... That stigma will remain for as long as the medium continues to exist.

Yeah, it was good to be a kid in the 80's. Drowning horses and rodents murdering eachother... Good times.

I love those movies, too. I sometimes wonder how they got away with it. Most of the time, I wonder how they can get back to it.

I could say it's because the 80's were just fucking hardcore, but creepy kids movies had been around since the 40's; Disney's Pinocchio is nightmare fuel.

I think it's something that all movies now suffer from, and that's the fear of controversy. Which probably stems from movies competing with so many different kinds of media now. Any movie that isn't an instant hit is deemed a colossal failure, so studios will avoid anything that might shock audiences in any way. I remember The Incredibles already stirred up some controversy for its knock against the 'Everyone's a winner' mentality.

 

[mindfaQ]

Often low story quality, so appeals only to a small target audience imo. Not much western animations in our theaters nowadays, either (besides the 3D-anims, which for a good part are there because the 3D technology supplements it quite well and it hasn't grown too old yet).
I'm not saying there aren't good anime movies, but if you remind yourself that the few you mentioned came out over the span of 2 decades and that it's arguable that some of these are even fit for cinema, you'd end up with less than 1 anime per year. So of course it won't be commonplace to see animes in the theaters.

 

[The Goat Tsar]

Because the audience for anime movies would rather pirate it. It's bizarre, really. As an example, a lot of my friends like anime and sometimes complain about how the stuff they like isn't "accepted" like the stuff I like (Western movies and tv shows). But when the Wind Rises came out in theaters, they chose to pirate it instead. And we may be college kids strapped for cash, but that didn't stop them from going to the movies to see Wreck-It Ralph, Pacific Rim, Captain Phillips and a few other movies. Anime is being sabotaged by it's own audience who would rather pirate than support the material's creator.

 

[scorptatious]

Well, as others have stated, anime appeals to a pretty niche audience, so it probably won't make too much money at theaters outside of Japan. With some exceptions of course.

 

[sageoftruth]

I'm no expert, but according to some video from Bob, the whole super hero craze happened because many of the guys working in the movie industry were kids who read super hero comics back in the day. Perhaps anime is simply after their time. Sure it existed, but at the time, it wasn't exactly popular in the west, like super hero comics were. What we probably need is more anime fans in the movie industry. After all, adapting an anime into a movie will crash and burn horribly if it isn't being made by people who know what they're working on.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Anime films are pretty much dead in Japan as well, buddy. The only studio really making feature films (and not film adaptations of previous TV series, i.e Rebuild of EVA) is Studio Ghibli. The anime market in Japan is focusing more and mroe on increasingly small otaku audiences who willingly buy overpriced merchandise. There's just no money in big releases anymore, unless its one of those typical hits every year or two.

 

[Redd the Sock]

In fairness, a lot of what you mentioned wouldn't get much play if they were American made live action films. Ceribrial science fiction and horror, Oscar bait style dramas, and not-spectacular adaptations of kid's properties. It's kind of rare to see an amine feature that would play to the blockbuster crowd, and that those that might either push the American censorship people a bit too far, or are Evangelion which openly has to say that if you haven't seen the show yet, don't bother.

And this applies to otaku fandom as well. Put a Mamoru Oshi film against a new One Piece flick and see which one wins out.

 

[The White Hunter]

To the general public anime is still rather niche in the US and Europe,; thus it doesn't make it to theatres.

I would like to have seen the last couple of One Piece films in theatres; Strong World was fucking awesome and had a great dub, and Film Z was pretty damn good to.

 

[Vykrel]

traditionally animated films struggle to earn money in general, nowadays, let alone japanese ones. just look at The Princess and the Frog. that movie did well, but you can bet your ass that it would have probably made twice as much if it were digitally animated.

add a foreign element to the traditional animation and you are just not very likely to see big box office numbers. distributors just arent willing to take a chance on any foreign animated film that isnt Studio Ghibli, and only because their movies are profitable, usually. and even then, the top three highest grossing anime films (all Ghibli) are only moderately successful compared to the biggest american animated films of EACH YEAR.

ever since like 2006, just the two top-grossing american animated films combined have earned over a billion dollars, and as we have seen with Toy Story 3 and Frozen, it is possible to break a billion with just one. you would have to add the top five highest grossing anime films of ALL TIME before you added up to a billion dollars.

its just all about the money. with the exception of the first two Pokemon movies, Studio Ghibli is the only japanese animation studio to produce films that break 100 million dollars, but only six times. of those six, only half managed to earn 200 million.

compare that to Disney Animation Studios, who have only delivered one movie in nearly fifteen years to not break 100 million dollars (Winnie the Pooh, traditionally animated)

or to Sony Animation Studios, who, ever since starting as late as 2006, have never delivered a film that didnt break 100 million.

or to Dreamworks Animation, who in the past decade have put out movies that either break or come close to breaking 200 million.

or to Blue Sky Studios, whose films have never failed to earn less than 250 million

or best of all, compare that to Pixar, whose films have never made less than 350 million. Spirited Away, the highest-grossing anime film of all time still earned nearly 100 million less than Pixar's lowest-grossing film.

and it isnt just traditionally animated films that struggle. stop motion animation also doesnt earn much at the box office, with numbers even lower than that of the top anime films.

honestly, as much as i like anime and traditionally animated films in general, if i were a studio executive, i would argue against producing or distributing any traditionally animated movie that isnt based on a very popular cartoon or isnt made my Studio Ghibli. theres just too much risk and too little profit... but if i were head of an animation studio, i would still make them, because someone has to, this day in age. traditional big screen animation is practically dead.

 

[zehydra]

I would say 'cause most of those aren't every good as it is.

Because quality indicates whether something gets a proper release, right? Which is why Adam Sandler movies always go straight to video.

The difference is that Adam Sandler movies are American. Foreign movies will be held to a higher standard because it has to surpass the cultural barrier first.

But I also stand by CasualShinji here and note that most Animes aren't actually very good by American movie standards.