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Final Evangelion Film Breaks Franchise's Box Office Record Globally

Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time (Shin Evangelion Gekijō-ban :||), the "final" Evangelion film, has earned 7.42 billion yen (about US$67.7 million) and sold 4.84 million tickets as of Sunday, its 35th day in the Japanese box office. The film had just earned 7 billion yen (about US$63.7 million) as of last Wednesday.

In its third week, the film surpassed the domestic earnings of Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, which earned a total of 5.3 billion yen. The new film is now the highest-earning film in the series domestically and internationally.

The film opened in 466 theaters in Japan on March 8, and sold 33.6% more tickets for 45.1% more yen than the previous Evangelion film during their respective first seven days.

The film set a record for highest IMAX earnings on an opening day in Japan, with the equivalent of US$740,000 in IMAX tickets. The movie also set a record for the highest percentage of IMAX opening day gross for a local film in Japan, with IMAX accounting for 10% of the film's opening day gross on only 1%-2% of the total screens.

The staff had delayed the film from January 23 to March 8, after careful consideration due to the new state of emergency declared in four prefectures in Japan on January 8, and then extended to a total of 11 prefectures.

The film had an earlier delay due to concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its spread inside and outside of Japan. The film was originally scheduled to open in Japan on June 27, 2020.

The first three films in the tetralogy — Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone, Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance, and Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo — debuted in 2007, 2009, and 2012 respectively. The three films had new MX4D and 4DX screenings in Japan that opened on December 4, 11, and 18, respectively.

Source: The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web