News

Japanese Box Office, June 2-3

Hideki Takeuchi's live-action Thermae Romae film rose back up to the No. 2 spot from No. 3 in its sixth weekend. Based on Mari Yamazaki's manga, the story follows Roman architect Lucius Modestus (Hiroshi Abe), who designs bath-houses in ancient Rome. One day he's sucked into modern-day Japan. Able to travel back and forth in between worlds, Lucius uses Japanese ideas to improve the Roman baths he builds in the past. The film grossed US$2,542,478 on 304 screens for a total of US$58,006,353.

The live-action 3D film based on Sadako, the iconic ghost of the horror film Ring (Ringu), fell from No. 5 to No. 6 in its fourth weekend. In the film, Sadako is the vengeful ghost of the daughter of a famous psychic. She is connected to a cursed video tape featuring a collection of disturbing images; those who watch the tape are killed one week later. Koji Suzuki, the author of the original novel series that inspired the franchise, wrote a new original story for the film. The film earned US$1,218,855 on 226 screens for a gross-to-date of US$13,388,698.

The live-action adaptation of Chūya Koyama's Space Brothers (Uchū Kyōdai) manga dropped from No. 6 to No. 8 in its fifth weekend. The film stars Shun Oguri and Masaki Okada as brothers Mutta and Hibito. The two make a vow to go into space but only Hibito succeeds at becoming an astronaut. However, Mutta's life changes one fateful day. The film pulled in US$758,270 on 322 screens for a gross-to-date of US$17,299,693.

The Blood-C: The Last Dark anime film opened at No. 10 on Box Office Mojo's chart (the film did not rank on Kogyo Tsushinsha's top 10 chart). Manga creator team CLAMP developed the story and original character designs for the earlier Blood-C television series and this film. Production I.G animated both projects, but Naoyoshi Shiotani (Tokyo Marble Chocolate, key animator on Blood+ and Blood-C) is directing the film instead of the television version's director Tsutomu Mizushima. Writers Jun'ichi Fujisaku and Nanase Ohkawa (CLAMP), animation character designer/chief animation director Kazuchika Kise, and voice cast members Nana Mizuki (Saya Kisaragi) and Kenji Nojima (Fumito Nanahara) all returned from the television series. The film earned US$400,012 on 24 screens for a per-screen average of US$16,667.

Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker film dropped from No. 7 to the No. 12 spot in its eighth weekend. It earned US$283,543 more on 332 screens for a total of US$40,066,016.

The second film in Takahiro Miki's two-part live-action film adaptation of Yuuki Obata's We Were There (Bokura ga Ita) romance manga dropped from No. 9 to the No. 14 spot for its seventh weekend. Toma Ikuta (Akihabara @ DEEP) and Yuriko Yoshitaka (Gantz) lead the films' cast. The story follows a girl named Nanami Takahashi (Yoshitaka) as she struggles with her decade-long relationship with Motoharu Yano (Ikuta), her high school's most popular boy who has his own issues from his past. The film earned US$212,713 on 293 screens for a total of US$20,762,157.

The live-action film adaptation of Bisco Hatori's Ouran High School Host Club romantic comedy manga was not ranked on Box Office Mojo's chart, but the website listed that the film earned US$185 on one screen during its 12th weekend for a new total of US$2,818,231.

Osamu Kaneda's live-action Kamen Rider X Super Sentai Super Hero Taisen film and Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu! Ora to Uchū no Princess, the 20th film in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise, both fell from Box Office Mojo's chart.

Sources: Kogyo Tsunshinsha, Box Office Mojo