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Live-Action Liar x Liar Film Opens at #2 in Tickets Sold, But #3's Demon Slayer Earned More Yen

The live-action film of Renjuro Kindaichi's Liar x Liar manga ranked at #2 (in number of tickets sold) in its opening weekend. The film sold 109,000 tickets and earned 144,973,600 yen (about US$1.38 million) over the weekend. It earned 205,898,980 yen (about US$1.96 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film opened on February 19.

Hokuto Matsumura and Nana Mori star in the film as protagonists Tōru and Minato, respectively. Saiji Yakumo (live-action Ankoku Joshi, Touken Ranbu) directed the film, with a script by Yuichi Tokunaga (live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War).

Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga digitally in English.

Kindaichi (Jungle wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu) launched the manga in Dessert in 2010, and ended the series in 2017. Kodansha published 10 compiled book volumes for the manga. The manga ranked #10 in Takarajimasha Inc.'s Kono Manga ga Sugoi guidebook ranking in 2012, and was nominated for the 39th annual Kodansha Manga Awards in 2015.

Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train stayed at #3 (in number of tickets sold) in its 19th weekend. The film sold 95,000 tickets over the weekend and earned 150,705,300 yen (about US$1.43 million) from Friday to Sunday. That is 22.7% more tickets than it sold the previous weekend for 24.7% more yen. It has sold a total of 27.45 million tickets and earned a cumulative total of 37,776,680,150 yen (about US$359.7 million).

After 12 consecutive weeks at #1 in the box office in Japan, the film dropped to #2 during the January 9-10 weekend, its 13th weekend. During that weekend, the film sold 425,000 tickets and earned 677,783,450 yen (about US$6.57 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film returned to the #1 spot in its 14th weekend.

The film has surpassed Hayao Miyazaki's 2002 Spirited Away, its last rival for all-time highest earnings in Japanese box office history. (Spirited Away earned 30.8 billion yen in its original run, but has since earned a total of 31.68 billion yen after this summer's revival screenings.) The Demon Slayer film is now also at least the second highest-earning anime film of all time worldwide, topping your name.'s worldwide US$357,986,087 earnings.

Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train began screening in 38 IMAX theaters in Japan on October 16. The film had the highest opening weekend globally for the October 16-18 weekend. The film sold 3,424,930 tickets and earned 4,623,117,450 yen (about US$43.85 million) in Japan in its first three days. The film sold 910,507 tickets and earned over 1,268,724,700 yen (about US$12.03 million) on its opening day alone, making it the highest weekday opening day in Japan ever. Mugen Train began holding immersive MX4D and 4DX screenings on Saturday, December 26.

The main staff members of the previous television anime returned for the sequel film. Toho and Aniplex are handling the film's distribution in Japan. Funimation and Aniplex of America will screen the film in theaters in North America in early 2021.

The Detective Conan: The Scarlet Alibi (Meitantei Conan: Hiiro no Fuzai Shōmei) compilation film released in anticipation of the upcoming Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet (Meitantei Conan: Hiiro no Dangan) film dropped from #2 to #4 in its second weekend. The film sold 75,000 tickets over the weekend, and earned 111,066,500 yen (about US$1.05 million) from Friday to Sunday (12.2% less than the previous weekend). It has earned a cumulative total of 494,804,200 yen (about US$4.71 million).

The film opened at #2 at the Japanese box office. The film earned 251,886,500 yen (about US$2.38 million) in its first four days, and it sold 92,000 tickets and earned 126,468,400 yen (about US$1.19 million) over the weekend. (The film opened on Thursday, a holiday in Japan.)

The compilation film combines footage from various television anime episodes that center on the Akai family. The film was originall slated only for a three-week limited theatrical run from February 11 to March 4, but its run was later extended to March 5 and beyond. The ending of the compilation film contains a video "secret message from Shuichi Akai" that will lead up to The Scarlet Bullet film, as well as a new trailer for The Scarlet Bullet itself. The titular character Conan narrates the compilation in a newly recorded and edited audio track.

Meitantei Conan: Hiiro no Dangan is the 24th film in the franchise. The film was slated to open on April 17 last year, but was delayed from its original date due to concerns about the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The film will now open on April 16 this year and have a simultaneous release in 22 countries and territories outside of Japan.

The Super Sentai Movie Ranger 2021 film ranked at #8 in its opening weekend.

Studio 4°C's anime film of Akihiro Nishino's Poupelle of Chimney Town (Entotsu-chō no Poupelle) picture book dropped from #8 to #9 in its ninth weekend. The film earned 42,843,000 yen (about US$408,000) from Friday to Sunday. It has earned a cumulative total of 2,158,149,600 yen (about US$20.55 million).

The film ranked at #4 and earned 322,998,700 (about US$3.13 million) in its opening weekend. The film opened in Japan on December 25.

Yusuke Hirota (CGI director for Berserk films, Harmony) directed the film, with Nishino serving as production supervisor, original creator, and writer, while Atsuko Fukushima (Genius Party, Robot Carnival) designed the characters.

Gintama The Final, the new anime film of Hideaki Sorachi's Gintama manga, dropped from #7 to #10 in its seventh weekend. The film earned 35,714,760 yen (about US$340,100) from Friday to Sunday. It has earned a cumulative total of 1,633,071,580 yen (about US$15.55 million).

The film opened at #1 in Japan on January 8 and ended Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train's 12 consecutive weekends at the top of the Japanese box office. The film is based on the finale of the original manga, combined with new story elements.

The manga also inspired a new net anime special titled Gintama The Semi-Final with a story that will be a two-episode prequel to the film. The net anime premiered exclusively in Japan on the online dTV service on January 15. The film also has a novel by Mirei Miyamoto that shipped on January 8.

Sorachi's original "science-fiction period-drama comedy" manga began in 2003 and ended in June 2019 with over 55 million copies in circulation. The latest anime series premiered in July 2018. The manga has also inspired various original video anime (OVA), event anime, two live-action films, and two live-action net spinoffs. Viz Media published the manga's first 23 volumes in English.

The Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle (Gekijōban Pocket Monster Koko) anime film fell off the top 10 in its seventh weekend.

Kadokawa's 4K HDR screening of the 1996 Gamera 2: Advent of Legion film dropped from #1 to #3 in the mini-theater ranking in its second weekend. The new screening opened on February 11.

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