Anime Box Office: Pokémon, Mononoke, & Otakon Guests Revealed

Pokémon: The First Movie continues to be a box office success in North America, earning $537,573 in its sixth week of release. This performance, while a slight dip, placed the film at 13th on the Daily Variety movie chart. To date, the film’s impressive total gross stands at $83,127,955.

Meanwhile, Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Princess Mononoke, continues its run in expanded release. Now in its fourth week of wider distribution (and eighth week total), the film brought in $96,782 this past weekend, shifting it from 30th to 34th place on the chart. Miramax's limited release of Princess Mononoke has accumulated a total gross of $2,298,191, showcasing the enduring appeal of Studio Ghibli's films to American audiences.

More Anime Finds a Home on Encore: Central Park Media is the latest company to join the growing list of distributors – including ADVision, Manga Entertainment, and Urban Vision – providing anime content for the Encore Action cable channel. New programming is set to premiere in February, further expanding the reach of anime to a wider audience.

Otakon 2000 Announces Guest of Honor Lineup: Anime fans attending Otakon 2000 in Baltimore, Maryland, are in for a special treat! The convention, scheduled for August 4-6 at the Baltimore Convention Center, has announced its first guests of honor: Yoshitoshi ABe, the renowned character designer for Serial Experiments Lain, and Yasuyuki Ueda, the creator of the same critically acclaimed series, from production 2nd. Fans will have a unique opportunity to meet and interact with these influential figures in the world of anime.

New Game Development Company Cavia Set to Bring Anime to the Gaming World: A new software development company called Cavia is set to launch in February 2000, backed by a consortium of industry leaders including Tokuma Shoten, Mitsubishi Corp, Nippon TV Network Corp, Touhoku, Tokyo FM Broadcasting, and Amuse Capital. Cavia will focus on developing games based on popular Japanese animation licenses across multiple platforms.

While specific titles remain unconfirmed, potential adaptations based on licenses like Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Raideen, and Patlabor are already generating excitement among fans. Former Sega Enterprise sub-chairman, Mr. Nakayama, will serve as the company's president.