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My Little Monster Film Opens at #6, Marmalade Boy at #8 at Japanese Box Office

Meitantei Conan: Zero no Shikkōnin (Detective Conan: Zero's Executioner), the 22nd film in the Detective Conan series, remained at #1 at the box office in Japan in its third weekend. The film sold 453,000 tickets on Saturday and Sunday to earn 610 million yen (about US$5.56 million). The film has sold a total of 3.74 million tickets and earned 4.8 billion yen (about US$43.7 million) as of May 1.

The Avengers: Infinity War film, which opened in Japan last Friday, ranked at #2 for Saturday and Sunday in terms of number of tickets sold, but not earnings. Avengers: Infinity War sold 437,000 tickets, earning 672 million yen (about US$6.13 million).

Detective Conan: Zero's Executioner had sold 1,289,000 tickets in its first three days to earn 1.67 billion yen (about US$15.6 million). The film's opening Saturday and Sunday sales represented 100.7% of the total that last year's Meitantei Conan Kara Kurenai no Love Letter film earned in its first Saturday and Sunday. Last year's film became the highest-grossing domestic film in Japan in 2017, earning a total of 6.89 billion yen (about US$61.1 million), which is also a franchise record. The new film could possibly be the series' sixth consecutive film to break the franchise's previous box-office record.

Yuzuru Tachikawa (Mob Psycho 100, Death Parade) directed the film. The film is a sequel of the series' 20th film, Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare, and centers on Tōru "Zero" Amuro. Police chief Hyōe Kuroda, who is rumored to be Rum in the Black Organization, appears for the first time in a film for the franchise.

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Bakumori! Kung-Fu Boys ~Ramen Tairan~ (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Bakumori! Kung-Fu Boys Ramen Rebellion), the 26th Crayon Shin-chan film, fell from #3 to #4 in its third weekend at the box office. The film earned 168,220,800 yen (about US$1.53 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has now cumulatively earned a total of 880,935,200 yen (about US$8.03 million).

The film had sold 315,000 tickets to earn 367 million yen (about US$3.42 million) in its opening weekend. The film is expected to earn more than 1.6 billion yen (about US$14.9 million). The opening weekend sales represent 111.2% of the total that last year's Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shūrai! Uchūjin Shiriri (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Invasion! Alien Shiriri) film earned in its opening Saturday-Sunday weekend. Last year's film earned a total of 1.62 billion yen (about US$15.1 million) at the box office in Japan.

The kung-fu action film is set in a Chinatown named Aiyātown in Kusakabe, Saitama (the setting of the main series). Crayon Shin-chan Bakusui! Yumemi World Dai Totsugeki director Wataru Takahashi returned to direct the film. Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Hikkoshi Monogatari ~Saboten Daishūgeki scriptwriter Kimiko Ueno wrote the script.

The live-action film adaptation of Robico's My Little Monster (Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun) manga opened on 287 screens on Friday to rank at #6 in its opening weekend.

The live-action film of Hiroya Oku's Inuyashiki manga fell from #5 to #7 and earned 79,501,800 yen (about US$724,800) from Friday to Sunday in its second weekend. The film has earned a total of 348,434,800 yen (about US$3.17 million). The film is expected to surpass 1 billion yen (about US$9.21 million) at the box office.

The live-action film of Wataru Yoshizumi's Marmalade Boy manga opened on 293 screens on Friday to rank at #8 in its opening weekend.

Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island), the Doraemon franchise's 38th film, fell off the top 10 chart in its ninth week. The film earned 33,582,300 yen (about US$306,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a total of 5,137,144,700 yen (about US$46.84 million).

Gekijōban Servamp: Alice in the Garden, the anime film based on Strike Tanaka's Servamp manga, dropped from the top five of the mini-theater rankings in its fourth weekend.

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