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Odex Screens 39th Doraemon Film in Southeast Asia
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Odex announced last Friday that it will screen Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Getsumen Tansaki (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration) — the Doraemon franchise's 39th film — in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. The opening dates are as follows:
- Singapore: July 20 (Fan Screening), July 25 (General Screening)
- Philippines: July 20 (Fan Screening), July 24 (General Screening)
- Malaysia: June 29 (Fan Screening), July 4 (General Screening)
Odex previously listed a release date for Indonesia, but later confirmed with ANN that the listed date was incorrect and that the screening date for Indonesia has not yet been determined.
The film opened on 382 screens in Japan on March 1 and sold 645,000 tickets for 757 million yen (about US$6.77 million) to top the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. From March 2-3, the film earned 82.6% of the earnings from last year's Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima film in its opening weekend. Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima holds the record as the highest-grossing film in the current 14-installment Doraemon film series after earning a total of 5.37 billion yen (about US$48.1 million) at the box office. Each Doraemon film in the past three years has set a new franchise box-office record.
Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration stayed at #1 for six consecutive weeks, and is the first film in the current film series to do so since the film series began in 2004. The film has earned a cumulative total of 4,930,696,900 yen (about US$44.75 million) as of May 5.
The film's story relates to the Japanese folkloric belief that a rabbit resides on the moon. The film is set on the moon and centers on strong friendships bound together by the "ability to believe." Luna is a mysterious girl who lives on the far side of the moon. Diabolo and his subordinate Goddard stand in the way of Nobita and his friends on their moon exploration journey.
Shinnosuke Yakuwa (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016, Eiga Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Daimakyō - Peko to 5-nin no Tankentai) directed the film, which is his first work directing from an original script. Naoki Prize-winning mystery author Midzuki Tsujimura (Tsunagu, Kagami no Kojō) wrote the script, and she also wrote a novel adaptation, which debuted on November 16. Dai Hirai performed the theme song "The Gift."
Update: Removed incorrect Indonesian release date.
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