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Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution Opens at #2 With 553 Million Yen Gross

Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution (Mew Two no Gyakushū Evolution), the 22nd film in the Pokémon franchise, sold 454,000 tickets to earn 553 million yen (about US$5.11 million) on 408 screens at 367 theaters, thus ranking #2 in its opening weekend. The film earned 10.6% more in its opening weekend than last year's film Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us did in its opening weekend. (Last year's film eventually earned 3.09 billion yen (about US$28.5 million.)

The new film is a 3D CG remake of Pocket Monsters: Mewtwo no Gyakushū, the 1998 film adapted into English as Pokémon: The First Movie. The film screened at Anime Expo earlier this month.

The live-action film of Katsuhisa Minami's The Fable manga dropped from #4 to #6 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 101,095,500 yen (about US$934,800) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 1,479,123,200 yen (about US$13.67 million).

The film opened in Japan on June 21 and ranked #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 296,492 tickets for 396,614,500 yen (about US3.711 million) in its first three days. The Eiga.com website reports that the film is projected to earn over 2.5 billion yen (about US23.3 million) by the end of its run.

Soreike! Anpanman Kirameke! Ice no Kuni no Vanilla-hime (Let's go! Anpanman: Sparkle! Princess Vanilla of the Land of Ice Cream), the 31st anime film in the Anpanman anime franchise, dropped from #5 to #7 in its third weekend. The film earned 57,574,200 yen (about US$532,300) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 335,388,700 yen (about US$3.10 million).

The film sold 104,826 tickets and earned 125,512,500 yen (about US$1.15 million) to rank #4 in its opening weekend. The film sold a total of 114,901 tickets to earn 137,067,500 yen (about US$1.26 million) from Friday to Sunday, and earned earned 70 million yen (about US$650,700) of that amount on Sunday alone. The film earned .04% more in its opening weekend than last year's Soreike! Anpanman Kagayake! Kurun to Inochi no Hoshi film.

Uta no Prince Sama Maji Love Kingdom, the anime film in the Uta no Prince Sama franchise, dropped from #6 to #8 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 62,610,200 yen (about US$578,800) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 908,328,300 yen (about US$8.39 million).

The film sold more than 100,000 tickets and earned 222.7 million yen (about US$2.05 million) in its opening weekend. The film opened in Japan on June 14. Sentai Filmworks licensed the film, and the film had a premiere screening on July 5 at this year's Anime Expo event. Sentai Filmworks will also screen the film in U.S. theaters at a later date.

Free! ~Road to the World~ Yume (Dream), the compilation film for the third Free! anime season, dropped from #9 to #10 in its second weekend. The film earned 37,030,900 yen (about US$342,300) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 149,657,800 yen (about US$1.38 million).

The film ranked at #9 in its opening weekend. The film opened on July 5.

The second film in the six-part Girls und Panzer das Finale film series ranked at #11 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 27,602,300 yen (about US$255,100) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 456,182,520 yen (about US$4.21 million).

The film sold 118,000 tickets to earn 145 million yen (about US$1.33 million) and rank #4 in its opening weekend. The opening weekend amount is .9% higher than the first film in the Girls und Panzer das Finale series.

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