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DBZ: Resurrection 'F' Film Sells 716,000 Tickets for 960 Million Yen

The Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' film earned approximately 960 million yen (about US$8.1 million) in its first two days at the Japanese box office this weekend. The film sold approximately 716,000 tickets in its first weekend.

The film sold 27.4% more tickets and earned 40.3% more in its first weekend than the 2013 Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods film.

The film also beat out the Furious 7, Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno, and Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishūgeki films, which all also opened in Japan last weekend.

According to the Deadline entertainment news site, the film earned the biggest opening in Japan so far in 2015. The site also reported that Japan is the only territory in the world where Furious 7 did not open at #1.

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' premiered on 658 screens in both 2D and 3D in theaters across Japan on April 18, although advance screenings were held before then. The film is the first Japanese film to open in 3D IMAX Digital Theaters.

The film's staff announced on Saturday that the film will screen in 74 countries worldwide. Funimation hosted the North American premiere of the film on April 11 in Los Angeles. The company plans to release the film in more theaters with an English dub this summer.

Toriyama said in an interview in November that the 'F' in the film's title stands for "Frieza," who is revived in the film. Toriyama noted that he thought of the title while listening to "F" by rock band Maximum The Hormone, whom he came to know personally through a friend. The song itself features Frieza as a motif, and is used as a "battle song" during one of the battle scenes in the film. The band originally released the song as its eighth single in July 2008.

Toriyama is personally credited with the original concept, screenplay, and character designs of the new movie. Dragon Ball Z animation director Tadayoshi Yamamuro directed the new movie. Pop idol group Momoiro Clover Z (Sailor Moon Crystal, Bodacious Space Pirates) performed the film's theme song, and also voiced roles in the movie, playing "angels" of hell that reside where the protagonist Son Goku's enemy Frieza has been imprisoned.

Thanks to Daniel for the news tip.

Sources: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Deadline