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Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc Drops to #2, Blue Giant Opens at #8

"World Tour Jōei: Kimetsu no Yaiba Jōgen Shūketsu, Soshite Katanakaji no Sato e" (World Tour Screenings: Demon Slayer: The Upper Ranks Gather and Onward to the Swordsmith Village), the theatrical screenings of the upcoming Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc (Kimetsu no Yaiba: Katanakaji no Sato-Hen) television anime, dropped from #1 to #2 in its third weekend. The film sold 246,000 tickets to earn 340,125,910 yen (about US$2.53 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold 1,874,000 tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 2,636,845,670 yen (about US$19.62 million).

The screenings will have MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema screenings beginning on February 25.

The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 813,000 tickets and earned 1,158,765,410 yen (about US$8.75 million) in its first three days in Japan.

The screenings opened on February 3 in 418 theaters in Japan. The screenings include episodes 10 and 11 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc, as well as the first Swordsmith Village Arc episode. The screenings will play in theaters in over 95 countries and territories.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc will premiere on television in April with a one-hour special.

Director Haruo Sotozaki, character designer and chief animation director Akira Matsushima, the animation studio ufotable, and the main cast are all returning for the new arc.

The First Slam Dunk, the new anime film of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk basketball manga, earned 240,981,810 yen (about US$1.79 million) from Friday to Sunday, dropping from #2 to #4 for its 12th weekend. The film has earned a cumulative total of 10,775,413,870 yen (about US$80.20 million).

The film is now the 37th highest-earning film of all time in Japan, as well as the 12th highest-earning anime film, surpassing Evangelion: 3.0+1.0.

The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 847,000 tickets and earned 1,295,808,780 yen (about US$9.50 million) over its opening weekend.

The film opened in Japan on December 3. The movie has IMAX screenings in 40 cinemas all over Japan, and Dolby Atmos screenings in 34 cinemas. The movie added Dolby Cinema screenings on December 10.

Inoue personally directed the film at Toei Animation and wrote the script. Among the listed staff members are character designer/animation director Yasuyuki Ebara (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) and technical directors Katsuhiko Kitada (Attack on Titan episodes, Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot), Naoki Miyahara (Digimon Adventure, Popin Q), Toshio Ōhashi (LayereD Stories 0), and Yū Kamatani (Looking for Magical DoReMi, Precure Super Stars!).

Daiki Nakazawa directed the CG, and Yūta Ogura produced the CG. Kazuo Ogura directed the art. Yota Tsuruoka directed the sound with Koji Kasamatsu.

The anime film adaptation of Shinichi Ishizuka's Blue Giant manga opened on Friday and debuted at #8. The film earned 116,561,020 yen (about US$867,600) in its first three days.

Yuzuru Tachikawa (Death Parade, Mob Psycho 100 all three seasons, Deca-Dence) directed the film at studio NUT. NUMBER 8, the editor of the Blue Giant manga and the story director for the Blue Giant Supreme manga, wrote the screenplay. TOHO Animation is distributing the film.

World-renowned pianist Hiromi Uehara composed the original music that the film's in-story jazz trio JASS performs, and also played the piano for the character Yukinori Sawabe. Saxophonist Tomoaki Baba played the saxophone for the character Dai. Shun Ishiwaka, the drummer of the millennium parade band, played drums for Shunji Tamada.

Makoto Shinkai's Suzume (Suzume no Tojimari) film earned 94,789,710 yen (about US$705,500) from Friday to Sunday, dropping from #4 to #9 in its 15th weekend. The film has now earned a cumulative total of 13,747,934,360 yen (about US$102 million).

The film is now the #16 highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick, and the #10 highest-grossing anime film of all time in Japan.

The film opened at #1 on November 11 and sold 1.33 million tickets to earn 1.88 billion yen (about US$13.49 million) in its first three days.

The film sold 38.7% more tickets and earned 47.4% more than Shinkai's acclaimed your name. film, which earned 1,277,960,000 yen (about US$12.51 million at the time) in its first three days. It also sold 14.8% more tickets and earned 14.4% more than Shinkai's previous film Weathering With You, marking the strongest opening three days of Shinkai's films.

Actress Nanoka Hara voices the heroine Suzume Iwato in the film. SixTONES idol group member Hokuto Matsumura (live-action Liar × Liar film's Tōru, live-action xxxHOLiC film's Shizuka Doumeki) made his voice acting debut in the film as Sōta Munakata, a young man who embarks on a journey with Suzume as the "Door-Closing Master."

Shinkai (your name., Weathering With You) directed the film and wrote the screenplay. He is also credited with the original story. Masayoshi Tanaka (your name., Weathering With You) designed the characters. Kenichi Tsuchiya (your name., Garden of Words) was the animation director. Takumi Tanji (Children Who Chase Lost Voices) was the art director. CoMix Wave Films and STORY inc. produced the movie. Toho is distributing the film. RADWIMPS scored the film. Seattle-based Hollywood film composer Kazuma Jinnouchi (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, RWBY: Ice Queendom) scored the film alongside RADWIMPS. TikTok performer Toaka performed one of the film's theme songs "Suzume."

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC