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Final Evangelion Film Is Now Hideaki Anno's Highest-Earning Film With 8.28 Billion Yen
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time (Shin Evangelion Gekijō-ban :||), the "final" Evangelion film, has sold 5,423,475 tickets for 8,282,298,700 yen (about US$75.72 million) as of Wednesday, its 59th day in the Japanese box office. The film has surpassed the 8.25 billion yen (about US$75.40 million) earnings of 2016's Shin Godzilla to become the highest-earning film by director Hideaki Anno in Japan.
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, despite playing in only one country so far.
During a stage greeting appearance at an April screening of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0, Anno had noted that fans could propel the film past Evangelion 3.0 and Shin Godzilla to set a new record for him. He added that if the film could exceed 10 billion yen (about US$90 million) it would portend well for the revitalization of the anime industry.
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.
Source: Oricon
