Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service 4K digital remaster opened at No. 6 in the Japanese box office with 173.2 million yen in its first three days, 37 years after the original theatrical run.
Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service returned to Japanese theaters as a 4K digital remaster and debuted at No. 6 on the domestic box office chart, earning 173,276,300 yen (approximately US$1.07 million) in its opening three-day weekend.
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Kiki's Delivery Service originally premiered in 1989, making this re-release a remarkable 37-year comeback to the big screen. The 1989 film follows a young witch named Kiki who moves to a coastal town and starts a flying delivery service using her broomstick, learning independence and resilience along the way. It remains one of Studio Ghibli's most beloved works and a cornerstone of Miyazaki's legendary filmography.
The 4K digital remaster breathes new visual life into the hand-drawn classic, preserving the warmth of the original animation while offering modern theatrical clarity. The restoration was supervised within Studio Ghibli's own ecosystem, ensuring the film's artistic integrity remained intact through the remastering process.
Kiki's Delivery Service slotted into a competitive Japanese box office weekend. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie sat one spot above at No. 5 after dropping from its previous No. 4 position. Below the Ghibli classic, the long-running Detective Conan: Highway no Datenshi fell from No. 5 to No. 7, while the live-action Mr. Osomatsu film slid from No. 3 all the way down to No. 9.
For a nearly four-decade-old animated film competing against major new franchise releases, cracking the top ten with over 173 million yen is a strong result. It underscores the enduring theatrical power of Studio Ghibli's catalog and the audience appetite for seeing these hand-drawn masterworks on the big screen in pristine quality.
The 4K restoration first debuted in North American IMAX theaters on March 13, 2026, marking the very first time Kiki's Delivery Service had ever been shown in the IMAX format. Audiences in the United States and Canada had the option of watching in either the original Japanese with subtitles or an English dub.
Japan's own IMAX screenings began on June 19, with a broader two-week nationwide theatrical run set to kick off on July 3. The staggered rollout means the opening weekend numbers represent the early IMAX-driven phase of the release, and the film's total gross is expected to climb considerably once it expands to standard screens across the country in July.
Studio Ghibli has a proven track record of successfully bringing its classics back to theaters. The studio's films carry deep generational appeal in Japan, where parents who grew up watching Miyazaki's work now bring their own children to experience the same stories. The 4K remaster adds a compelling reason for even dedicated fans to return the chance to see hand-painted cel animation rendered in a level of detail that home video could never fully capture.
Kiki's Delivery Service joins a growing list of Ghibli titles that have received premium theatrical re-releases in recent years, reaffirming that the studio's catalog remains a commercially viable force decades after the films' original runs.
With the nationwide expansion to standard theaters beginning July 3, the coming weeks will reveal the full commercial scope of the Kiki's Delivery Service remaster in Japan. The film is also available for home viewing through various platforms, but the 4K theatrical presentation offers an experience that has clearly drawn audiences back to cinemas in significant numbers.
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