News
Gundam: Hathaway Film Earns 524 Million Yen Toward Topping Its 1st Weekend
posted on by Egan Loo
Entertainment news website Cinema Today reported on Monday that the Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway (Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senkō no Hathaway) anime film earned 523,943,800 yen (about US$4.77 million) in its first three days at the box office. It sold 259,074 tickets since opening on 215 screens on Friday, June 11.
Gundam: Hathaway earned over 190 million yen (about US$1.7 million) in its first day, or 337% what Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative earned on its first day in 2018. Gundam: Hathaway then earned 330,656,900 yen (about US$3.01 million) on Saturday and Sunday to rank #1 by total yen earned (and #3 by the number of tickets sold) at Japan's weekend box office. On those two days, it garnered a high per-screen average of 1,537,939 yen (about US$14,000).
The highest-earning Gundam film so far is 1982's Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, which earned 2.3 billion yen. Cinema Today projects that Gundam: Hathaway's strong start could lead it to beating the franchise record.
The Gundam: Hathaway film opened in Japan on Friday after previously being delayed three times. The movie was originally slated to open in Japan in July 2020, but was delayed due to COVID-19. The film was delayed in April from May 7 to May 21, and was then delayed again last month due to the extended state of emergency declared in Japan. The current state of emergency is scheduled to last until June 20.
The film was originally planned to play in 214 theaters, a franchise-record high. Some theaters are screening the film in 4D and Dolby Cinema. Dolby Cinemas are also screening the first 15 minutes and 53 seconds of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack before the film. The film's limited edition Blu-ray Disc went on sale on June 11.
Netflix U.S. will exclusively stream the film starting on July 1.
Shukou Murase (Ergo Proxy, Gangsta., Witch Hunter Robin, Genocidal Organ) directed the project, and Yasuyuki Mutou (Basilisk, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, Deadman Wonderland) wrote the script. Pablo Uchida, Naoyuki Onda, and Shigeki Kuhara adapted Haruhiko Mikimoto's original character designs for animation. Hajime Katoki, Kimitoshi Yamane, Seiichi Nakatani, and Nobuhiko Genba adapted Yasuhiro Moriki's mechanical designs for animation. Hiroyuki Sawano (Attack on Titan, Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative, Mobile Suit Gundam UC) composed the music.
Source: Cinema Today (入倉功一)
