News
Japanese Box Office, February 25-26
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Note: Kogyo Tsushinsha's website did not post Box Office Rankings for the February 25-26 weekend. The below rankings reflect only Box Office Mojo's chart.
Always: Sunset on Third Street '64, the third live-action film based on Ryohei Saigan's nostalgic San-chōme no Yūhi - Yūyake no Uta manga directed by Takashi Yamazaki (live-action Space Battleship Yamato, Returner, Ballad) rose from No. 3 to No. 2 during its sixth weekend. The original manga, a 1990-1991 television anime series adaptation, and the first two live-action films followed the lives of people in a Tokyo neighborhood as the iconic Tokyo Tower rises above them. The film earned US$1,447,798 on 473 screens for a new total of US$39,853,168.
Takashi Miike's live-action adaptation of CAPCOM's Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) video game franchise fell from No. 7 to No. 8 in its third weekend. The film takes place in a parallel Japan, where a large increase in harsh crimes has led to a new court system. Under this new system, the defense attorney and public prosecutor have three days to battle cases out in open court to determine guilt or innocence of the accused, placing priority on speed instead of thorough investigation. The film earned US$713,458 on 275 screens for a new total of US$5,202,406.
The live-action film adaptation of Masaharu Noritsuke's Afro Tanaka comedy manga fell from No. 9 to No. 11 during its second weekend. Shota Matsuda (Liar Game, Hana Yori Dango [2005]) stars as an odd, Afro-haired young man named Hiroshi Tanaka who faces his greatest challenge at the age of 24: his first potential girlfriend (live-action Sazae-san special and Kaitō Royale's Nozomi Sasaki). The film earned US$325,226 on 72 screens for a new total of US$1,176,056.
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie, the newest live-action Super Sentai film, dropped from No. 10 to No. 12 during its sixth weekend. The film is related to the Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger live-action television series, which Toei began airing as Super Sentai's 35th anniversary show last February. The film differs from the previous three Super Sentai VS films because it is a crossover with the Space Sheriff Gavan live-action special effects series. The film earned US$222,011 on 217 screens for a gross-to-date of US$6,688,303.
The live-action film adaptation of Hikaru Nakamura's Arakawa Under the Bridge manga fell from No. 12 to No. 15 in its fourth weekend. In the story, an upper-class young man named Ko "Riku" Ichinomiya (Kento Hayashi) meets a beautiful homeless girl named Nino (Mirei Kiritani) from the banks of Arakawa River, where many of Tokyo's most unusual denizens live. The film earned US$204,476 on 165 screens for a new total of US$3,007,777.
The second documentary of the Akihabara based J-Pop group AKB48, titled Documentary of AKB48: Show Must Go On Shōjo-tachi wa Kizutsuki Nagara, Yume wo Miru, fell off of Box Office Mojo's chart during its fifth weekend.
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, February 18-19
