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Check out this exclusive movie poster premiere for "The Prophet," which hits U.S. theaters on August 7, 2015.

GKIDS will release the film in the U.S. in August.

U.S. audiences get to enjoy a new Studio Ghibli film in theaters for potentially the last time.

GKIDS will release the mixed-media film "The Prophet" in the U.S. this summer.

New York-based foreign animation distributor GKIDS has acquired North American rights to "When Marnie Was There", the latest film by Japan's Studio Ghibli.

GKIDS has released a full trailer for "Song of the Sea" in anticipation of the film's North American theatrical debut.

This weekend the $50 million Fox/Reel FX film "The Book of Life," opened in the United States with an estimated $17 million.

Distributor GKIDS has set Friday, December 19, as the North American release date for the Irish hand-drawn feature "Song of the Sea."

Foreign animation distributor GKIDS announced yesterday that they have acquired North American rights to the Brazilian film "Boy and the World."

It’s not too late to see the Oscar-nominated French animated feature Ernest & Celestine. Below is a list of theaters that are screening the film this weekend. If your city isn’t listed below, check out the complete list of screening dates on the official website. New York, NY – IFC CenterAustin, TX – Regal Arbor CinemasPortland, OR – Regal Fox TowerSalt Lake City, UT – Broadway TheatreChicago, IL – Music Box TheatreScottsdale, AZ – Harkins SheaBaltimore, MD – The Charles TheatreHouston, TX – Landmark River Oaks TheatreAtlanta, GA – Landmark Midtown ArtDenver, CO – Landmark MayanForest Hills, NY – Cinemart CinemasBerkeley, CA – Rialto Cinemas Elmwood Washington, DC – West End CinemaOgden, UT – Art House Cinema 502Juneau, AK – Gold Town NickelodeonSan Francisco, CA – Landmark Opera Plaza CinemaMinneapolis, MN – Landmark Lagoon CinemaNorthbrook, IL – AMC NorthbrookSkokie, IL – AMC Village CrossingLas Vegas, NV – Regal Village SquareTucson, AZ – The Loft CinemaSalem, OR – Salem CinemaHonolulu, HI – Kahala Theatres 8Charlotte, NC – Regal Manor TwinKnoxville, TN – Regal Downtown WestSanta Fe, NM – CCA Santa FeColumbus, OH – Gateway Film CenterSt. Louis, MO – Landmark Plaza FrontenacIndianapolis, IN – Landmark Keystone ArtDurango, CO – Animas TheatreLincolnshire, IL – Regal LincolnshireCoral Gables, FL – Coral Gables Art CinemaPittsfield, MA – Berkshire Museum Little CinemaSan Luis Obispo, CA – Palm TheatreIthaca, NY – CinemapolisSanta Cruz, CA – Del MarBoulder, CO – Boedecker Theater (begins 4/12)Sarasota, FL – Sarasota Film Festival (4/12 – 4/13)Omaha, NE – Film Streams Omaha (begins 4/12)Three Rivers, MI – Riviera Theatre (begins 4/12) Huntington, NY – Cinema Arts Centre (4/12 – 4/13)Santa Barbara, CA – Plaza de Oro (4/16) *This post is sponsored by GKIDS.*

The Oscar-nominated French animated feature "Ernest & Celestine," which is being rolled out theatrically across the U.S. over the next few months, has its first significant expansion this weekend.

Blue Sky’s Epic, directed by Chris Wedge, opened its U.S. box office run in fourth place with a respectable weekend take of $33.5 million. If you add in earnings from Monday, which was a holiday in the States, Epic’s 4-day total stands at $42.8M.

The film was based on a story by children’s author/illustrator Bill Joyce, whose movie projects have had difficulty capturing the attention of audiences. Similarly, Epic is the weakest opening ever for a Blue Sky feature. While Epic outperformed the dismal openings of the last two films based on Joyce properties—DreamWorks’ Rise of the Guardians ($23.8M) and Disney’s Meet the Robinsons ($25.1M)—it still failed to match the opening weekend of the Blue Sky/Bill Joyce collaboration Robots which had a 3-day total of $36 million in 2005.

Fox president of dommestic distribution, Chris Aronson, was optimistic about the film’s long-term potential, telling the Hollywood Reporter, “I think it’s a fantastic start. We have a four week run before Monsters University opens, and I’m very bullish on where Epic goes.”

In other box office news, after ten weeks in theaters, DreamWorks’ The Croods continues to show great legs and remains in the top ten. The film took ninth place last weekend with $1.2 million. As of yesterday, its U.S. total stands at $179.6 million and its foreign total is $383.4 million for a grand total of $563 million.

Finally, GKIDS is headed for its first million dollar-grossing release in the U.S. with Goro Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill. The film earned $17,281 last weekend pushing its grand total to $958,610.

DreamWorks’ The Croods opened in first place at the U.S. box office with $43.6 million. That is almost the exact same opening as Chris Sanders’ last film, How to Train Your Dragon, which opened with $43.7 million in 2010. It is also much stronger than the studio’s last film, Rise of the Guardians, which earned $23.8 million during its opening weekend last November. The Croods netted an additional $62.6 million from its foreign debut. Russia, which as we’ve established is crazy for DreamWorks animation, was the film’s top foreign market and generated $12.9 million in box office earnings.

In other box office news, The Weinstein Company’s Escape from Planet Earth is winding down its theatrical run. It grossed $477,522 in its sixth frame, upping its total to $53.4 million. GKIDS expanded Goro Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill into 6 theaters and grossed $59,693. The film’s two-week U.S. total stands at $131,927.

Nearly 600 people took our Croods box office poll which asked readers to guess how much the film would earn during its opening weekend. The correct choice—$42-44 mil—was the sixth most popular answer, guessed by 7.35% of readers. Here were the top five guesses:

10.93% of readers guessed $38-40 mil
10.04% of readers guessed $40-42 mil
9.5% of readers guessed under $25 million
8.78% of readers guessed $36-38 mil
7.53% of readers guessed $30-32 mil

Gkids is releasing Studio Ghilbi’s From Up On Poppy Hill to U.S. theaters on March 15th. The English dub of Goro Miyazaki’s film sounds pretty good…

From GKids press release:

Set in Yokohama in 1963, as Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics, the story centers on Umi and Shun, two high school kids caught up in the changing times. But a buried secret from their past emerges to cast a shadow on the future and pull them apart. With its rich color palette, stunning exteriors, sun-drenched gardens, bustling cityscapes and painterly detail, From Up on Poppy Hill provides a pure, sincere, and nuanced evocation of the past, and marks yet another creative triumph for Studio Ghibli.