Howl's Moving Castle, the new animation from Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, earned $14.2m (Y1.48bn) on 1.1 million admissions in its first two days on release - a new Box Office record for a Japanese film.

The previous record holder was Bayside Shakedown 2, which was released in 2003. The figures also represented a 40% gain over Spirited Away, Miyazaki's previous film, which went on to gross $292 million - an all-time record for a film released in Japan, foreign or Japanese.

The film's distributor, Toho, is now projecting a possible $480m gross on 40 million admissions - which would mean that nearly one-third of Japan's entire population is expected to see the film.

Howl's Moving Castle opened on November 20 on 450 screens, surpassing the previous record of 408 for a Japanese film set by Bayside Shakedown 2.

This number - nearly one of every five screens in the country - compares with 348 for Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke in 1997 and 336 for Spirited Away in 2001

Madman will be releasing HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE in cinemas late 2005.