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Inuyashiki Film Opens at #5 with Detective Conan, Shin-chan in Top 3

Meitantei Conan Zero no Shikkōnin (Detective Conan: Zero's Executioner), the 22nd film in the Detective Conan series, remained at #1 at the box office in Japan in its second weekend. The film sold 620,000 tickets on Saturday and Sunday to earn 820 million yen (about US$7.55 million), and earned 820,184,900 yen from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 2.47 million tickets for 3,233,128,800 yen (about US$29.5 million).

The film had earned 1.296 billion yen (about US$12.1 million) on Saturday and Sunday of its opening weekend, and had sold 1,289,000 tickets in its first three days to earn 1.67 billion yen (about US$15.6 million). The film's opening Saturday and Sunday sales represented 100.7% of the total that last year's Meitantei Conan Kara Kurenai no Love Letter film earned in its first Saturday and Sunday. Last year's film became the highest-grossing domestic film in Japan in 2017, earning a total of 6.89 billion yen (about US$61.1 million), which is also a franchise record. The new film could possibly be the series' sixth consecutive film to break the franchise's previous box-office record.

Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100, Death Parade) directed the film. The film is a sequel of the series' 20th film, Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare, and centers on Tōru "Zero" Amuro. Police chief Hyōe Kuroda, who is rumored to be Rum in the Black Organization, appears for the first time in a film for the franchise.

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Bakumori! Kung-Fu Boys ~Ramen Tairan~ (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Bakumori! Kung-Fu Boys Ramen Rebellion), the 26th Crayon Shin-chan film, fell from #2 to #3 in its second weekend at the box office. The film earned 198,179,000 yen (about US$18.2 million) from Friday to Sunday, and the film has earned a total of 651,768,100 yen (about US$5.98 million).

The film had sold 315,000 tickets to earn 367 million yen (about US$3.42 million) in its opening weekend. The film is expected to earn more than 1.6 billion yen (about US$14.9 million). The opening weekend sales represent 111.2% of the total that last year's Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shūrai! Uchūjin Shiriri (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Invasion! Alien Shiriri) film earned in its opening Saturday-Sunday weekend. Last year's film earned a total of 1.62 billion yen (about US$15.1 million) at the box office in Japan.

The kung-fu action film is set in a Chinatown named Aiyātown in Kusakabe, Saitama (the setting of the main series). Crayon Shin-chan Bakusui! Yumemi World Dai Totsugeki director Wataru Takahashi returned to direct the film. Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishūgeki scriptwriter Kimiko Ueno wrote the script.

The live-action film of Hiroya Oku's Inuyashiki manga opened on 313 screens on Friday and ranked at #5 at the box office in its opening weekend. The film sold 91,000 tickets to earn 124 million yen (about US$1.14 million) on Saturday and Sunday. The film is expected to surpass 1 billion yen (about US$9.21 million) at the box office.

Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island), the Doraemon franchise's 38th film, fell from #7 to #10 in its eighth week at the box office. As of April 15, the film had earned a cumulative total of 5,035,450,700 yen (about US$47 million).

The film had sold about 4,282,000 tickets in 37 days to earn 4.88 billion yen (about US$45.58 million) as of April 9 and become the best-selling film in the franchise's history. The film also became the highest-grossing anime in the current 13-installment Doraemon film series the previous week after grossing more than 4.44 billion yen (about US$41.5 million) in 32 days.

The latest Doraemon film is inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island novel. In the film's story, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo set out on an adventure in the Caribbean Sea. Nobita is the captain of a ship and fights his enemies on board. Shizuka gets kidnapped, and a storm impedes their journey. Mini-Dora robots help Nobita and friends on their journey. When the adventurers finally find the mysterious Treasure Island, they discover it is more than just an ordinary island.

Kazuaki Imai, an episode director on the Doraemon television anime, directed the project as his first Doraemon franchise film. Novelist Genki Kawamura (your name., The Boy and The Beast producer) penned the script.

Naoko Yamada's Liz to Aoitori (Liz and the Blue Bird), Kyoto Animation's first of two planned all-new anime films in the Sound! Euphonium franchise, opened on Saturday, but ranked #11, out of the top 10. The film earned 53,573,900 yen (about US$492,400) in its opening weekend.

Gekijōban Servamp: Alice in the Garden, the anime film based on Strike Tanaka's Servamp manga, stayed at #1 on the mini-theater ranking in its third week. The film opened in Japan on April 7.

The live-action film of Rensuke Oshikiri's Misumisou manga dropped from the top five of the mini-theater rankings in its third weekend.

Sources: Eiga.com, Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC