News

Japanese Box Office, May 26-27

Hideki Takeuchi's live-action Thermae Romae film fell from the No. 2 spot to No. 3 during its fifth weekend. Based on Mari Yamazaki's manga, the story follows Roman architect Lucius Modestus (Hiroshi Abe), who designs bath-houses in ancient Rome. One day he's sucked into modern-day Japan. Able to travel back and forth in between worlds, Lucius uses Japanese ideas to improve the Roman baths he builds in the past. The film ranked at No. 2 on Box Office Mojo and grossed US$3,140,387 on 304 screens for a total of US$52,365,441.

The live-action 3D film based on Sadako, the iconic ghost of the horror film Ring (Ringu), fell from No. 3 to No. 5 in its third weekend. In the film, Sadako is the vengeful ghost of the daughter of a famous psychic. She is connected to a cursed video tape featuring a collection of disturbing images; those who watch the tape are killed one week later. Koji Suzuki, the author of the original novel series that inspired the franchise, wrote a new original story for the film. The film ranked at No. 4 on Box Office Mojo and earned US$1,698,669 on 222 screens for a gross-to-date of US$11,008,890.

The live-action adaptation of Chūya Koyama's Space Brothers (Uchū Kyōdai) manga dropped from No. 4 to No. 6 in its fourth weekend. The film stars Shun Oguri and Masaki Okada as brothers Mutta and Hibito. The two make a vow to go into space but only Hibito succeeds at becoming an astronaut. However, Mutta's life changes one fateful day. The film pulled in US$1,145,032 on 322 screens for a gross-to-date of US$15,574,175.

Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker film dropped from No. 5 to the No. 7 spot in its seventh weekend. It earned US$475,511 more on 332 screens for a total of US$39,497,293.

The second film in Takahiro Miki's two-part live-action film adaptation of Yuuki Obata's We Were There (Bokura ga Ita) romance manga dropped from No. 8 to the No. 9 spot for its sixth weekend. Toma Ikuta (Akihabara @ DEEP) and Yuriko Yoshitaka (Gantz) lead the films' cast. The story follows a girl named Nanami Takahashi (Yoshitaka) as she struggles with her decade-long relationship with Motoharu Yano (Ikuta), her high school's most popular boy who has his own issues from his past. The film earned US$377,904 on 295 screens for a total of US$20,253,908.

Osamu Kaneda's live-action Kamen Rider X Super Sentai Super Hero Taisen film fell from No. 9 to No. 13 on Box Office Mojo's chart in its sixth weekend. The latest film in the Kamen Rider frachise features about 200 heroes — from every team in the live-action special-effects Super Sentai franchise — and about 40 Kamen Riders from the four-decade-long Kamen Rider franchise. The film grossed US$286,936 on 245 screens for a total of US$18,973,831.

Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu! Ora to Uchū no Princess, the 20th film in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise, dropped from No. 11 to No. 15 in its seventh weekend. The film sends the title kindergartner and his family into outer space. The film grossed US$149,679 on 110 screens for a total amount of US$11,782,573.

The live-action film adaptation of Bisco Hatori's Ouran High School Host Club romantic comedy manga ranked at No. 17 and earned US$1,085 on two screens during its eleventh weekend for a new total of US$2,817,291.

Sources: Kogyo Tsunshinsha, Box Office Mojo