News
Japanese Box Office, December 17-18
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie Taisen Mega Max film droipped from No. 1 to No. 2 during its second weekend. The film features the first seven Kamen Riders as well as the casts of both the Kamen Rider Fourze and Kamen Rider OOO series. It earned the equivalent of US$2,685,824 on 301 screens for a gross-to-date of US$8,811,241.
Eiga Kaibutsu-kun, the 3D live-action film adaptation of Fujiko Fujio A's Kaibutsu-kun supernatural action manga starring 30-year-old Arashi band member Satoshi Ohno, fell from No. 2 to No. 3 during its fourth weekend. Ohno had starred in a live-action television series version and a spinoff television special last year. The film earned the equivalent of US$2,624,056 on 446 screens for a new total of US$24,331,724.
The 3D computer-animated film Friends: Mononoke Shima no Naki (Friends: Naki of Monster Island) opened at No. 4. The live-action Space Battleship Yamato film's Takashi Yamazaki wrote and directed the film. SMAP band member Shingo Katori stars as Naki, a red oni (Japanese demon/ogre). Veteran voice actor Kouichi Yamadera (Cowboy Bebop's Spike, Evangelion's Kaji) plays a blue oni named Gunjō.The film earned US$1,818,559 on 334 screens.
Naoko Yamada and Kyoto Animation's K-ON! anime film dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 in its third weekend. The film depicts the five female members of Sakuragaoka High School's light music club in a story not seen in the television series. The original television voice cast reprised their respective roles in the movie. The film earned US$1,681,043 on 137 screens for a gross-to-date of US$12,136,860.
Kaiji 2 - Jinsei Dakkai Game, the live-action film sequel based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto's Kaiji gambling action manga, dropped from No. 10 to No. 11 in its seventh weekend. The film, which stars Tatsuya Fujiwara (Death Note), earned the equivalent of US$126,847 on 288 screens for a new total of US$19,903,084.
The latest Precure anime film, Eiga Suite Precure: Torimodose! Kokoro ga Tsunagu Kiseki no Melody, fell off of Box Office Mojo's chart in its eighth weekend.
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, December 10-11
