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Japanese Box Office, December 20-21

Gegege no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!, the first film based on the most recent television reincarnation of Shigeru Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō supernatural action manga, opened at #7 on Kogyo Tsushinsha's Japanese box office chart during the December 20-21 weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, it earned the equivalent of US$876,057 on 218 screens. Eiga! Tamagotchi Uchū Ichi Happy na Monogatari!?, the second feature film inspired by Bandai's Tamagotchi! virtual pet franchise, also debuted at #9 with US$816,839 on 255 screens.

Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot, Takao Kato's anime film based on Takuya Mitsuda's baseball manga, dropped from #2 to #6 in its second weekend. It gained US$900,167 on 311 screens to add to its US$2,828,324 total. Bleach: Fade to Black - Kimi no Na o Yobu, the third anime film inspired by Tite Kubo's manga, fell from #3 to #10 in its second weekend also. The film picked up US$768,842 for a gross-to-date of US$2,926,976.

Tokumei Kakarichō Tadano Hitoshi: Saigo no Gekijō-ban (Special Mission Section Chief Hitoshi Tadano: The Final Film) dropped from #7 off the chart in its third weekend. This film is based on the live-action television adaptation of Kimio Yanagisawa's salaryman action manga. It added US$254,152 on 267 screens to its US$3,234,351 total. Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! Okashi no Kuni no Happy Birthday, the theatrical spinoff from the ongoing Yes! Precure 5 GoGo! television series, dropped from #10 off the chart in its seventh weekend. The movie is the fifth theatrical release from the Precure or Pretty Cure magical girl anime franchise. Scott Derrickson and Fox's remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still science-fiction film classic opened at #1, displacing Andrew Stanton and Pixar's Wall-E to #2.

Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha

Image © Mizuki Pro, Fuji TV, Toei Animation