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Doraemon: Nobita's Little Star Wars 2021 Film Stays at #1 for 2nd Weekend

The Doraemon: Nobita's Little "Star Wars" 2021 anime film stayed at #1 in its second weekend. The film sold 229,000 tickets for 281 million yen (about US$2.37 million) over the weekend. The film has sold a total of 660,000 tickets for a cumulative total of 800 million yen (about US$6.76 million).

The film opened at #1, and sold 350,000 tickets for 440 million yen (about US$3.81 million) in its first three days. The film will opened on March 4 after a delay due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The film was originally slated to open in March 2021.

Doraemon: Nobita's Little "Star Wars" 2021 is the 41st film in the Doraemon franchise. The film is a remake of the 1985 Doraemon film of the same title. Susumu Yamaguchi — a key animator on many previous Doraemon movies, unit director of Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Chronicle of the Moon Exploration, and the director of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE — directed the new film. Dai Sato (Eureka Seven, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Listeners) penned the script. Official HiGE DANdism created the theme song "Universe" specifically for the film. Sibling folk duo Billy BanBan is performing the insert song "Kokoro Arigatō" (Thank You for the Heart) for the film. Shirogumi, the 3D CG studio behind the production of the Stand By Me Doraemon films, handled the CG for the spaceships in the film.

The Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 anime film dropped from #3 to #4 in its 12th weekend. The film has sold a total of 9.07 million tickets for over 12.7 billion yen (about US$107 million) since it opened on December 24, and is currently the 21st highest-grossing film in Japan of all time.

The film is now the #1 highest-earning film at the Japanese box office from the 2021 calendar year, after surpassing Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, according to the Mainichi Shimbun paper's Mantan Web.

The film earned 2,694,128,150 yen (about US$23.5 million) in its first three days, and topped the box office chart for its opening weekend. The film also has IMAX, 4D, and Dolby Cinema screenings. The film will open with English subtitles and with an English dub in the U.S. and Canada on March 18.

The film is based on Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Tokyo Toritsu Jujutsu Kōtō Senmon Gakkō (Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School) manga prequel story, with MAPPA animating again and TOHO distributing. Viz Media released the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga in January 2021, and it describes the story:

Yuta Okkotsu is a nervous high school student who is suffering from a serious problem—his childhood friend Rika has turned into a Curse and won't leave him alone. Since Rika is no ordinary Curse, his plight is noticed by Satoru Gojo, a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school where fledgling exorcists learn how to combat Curses. Gojo convinces Yuta to enroll, but can he learn enough in time to confront the Curse that haunts him?

The Kamen Rider OOO 10th: Fukkatsu no Core Medal 10th anniversary movie for the Kamen Rider OOO show ranked at #6 in its opening weekend.

The Ensemble Stars!! Road to Show!! theatrical anime dropped from #6 to #9 in its second weekend. The film ranked at #6 in its opening weekend. The film opened in theaters in Japan on March 4. The anime takes place in New York and features the characters visiting New York to attend an Idol Film Festival.

Masakazu Hishida returned to direct the film at david production, and Asami Nakatani was the chief director. Seitarō Kino from Happy Elements wrote the screenplay, and Happy Elements is again credited with the original character design. Haruko Iizuka was the animation character designer and the chief animation director. Tatsuya Katō again composed the music.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web