Trio team with Ghibli over 'Ponyo'

Marshall, Kennedy, Lasseter hope to boost pic

By MARK SCHILLING

Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Pixar honcho John Lasseter are working with toon house Studio Ghibli to make the summer release of Hayao Miyazaki's smash toon "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" the studio's biggest hit ever Stateside.

The goal is to boost both the number of screens and the box office take beyond Ghibli's record for a U.S. release set by "Spirited Away," the Miyazaki toon that earned a little more than $10 million on 714 screens in 2002 and 2003. 

Marshall and Kennedy were announced as producers for the U.S. version of the pic in June by Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, while Lasseter was executive producer on the U.S. releases of "Spirited Away" and Miyazaki's  follow-up  toon, "Howl's Moving Castle," which earned $4.7 million on 202 U.S. screens in 2005.  

The voice cast for the U.S. release, revealed in November, includes Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Cloris Leachman.

Bowing in Japan last summer, "Ponyo" has grossed $165 million to date, making it Japan's biggest earner in 2008.

Though a B.O. powerhouse in Japan for nearly two decades thanks to toons that regularly top the local and Hollywood competition, Ghibli has been frustrated in its efforts to broaden its U.S. base beyond anime fans and arthouse auds.