Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" toppled from top of box office heap by "One Piece Film Strong World"

by Chris MaGee

Last year saw Hayao Miyazaki's "Ponyo" set records at the Japanese box office, bringing in nearly ¥1 billion yen on its opening weekend back in July of 2008, but now it looks like 2009 will its own animated blockbuster, and one that has unseated Miyazaki's box office take. Munehisa Sakai's "One Piece Film Strong World: Movie 10" opened in Japanese theatres this past weekend and immediately squeaked past "Ponyo's" first weekend gross by ¥13.5 million. This tenth in the series of feature films based on the manga and subsequent TV anime created by Eiichiro Oda continues the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his Straw Hat Pirates, and if audiences keep flocking to theatres to join in then "One Piece Film Strong World: Movie 10" could easily be one of the biggest Japanese animated films of this (soon to be completed) decade.

Check out the trailer for "One Piece Film Strong World: Movie 10" below, and thanks to Anime News Network for the details on this.