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Exit 8 Has Highest 3-Day Opening for Live-Action Films This Year in Japan
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The film has now surpassed Titanic to become the #3 highest-earning film of all time in Japan. By contrast, Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train topped Titanic in the all-time box office rankings in 45 days.
Haruo Sotozaki is directing the anime at ufotable, and ufotable is also credited for the screenplay. Aimer is performing the song "Taiyō ga Noboranai Sekai" ("A World Where the Sun Never Rises"), and LiSA is performing the song "Zankoku no Yoru ni Kagayake" ("Shine in the Cruel Night").
The film had its world premiere screening at Cannes during the festival on May 19. The film had an eight-minute standing ovation at its Cannes screening. The film's poster (image left) also won Cannes' Prix Luciole poster competition.
The film opened in Japan last Friday.
The film will also have its screening at the Centrepiece Section of the 50th Toronto International Film Festival, which will be held on September 4-14; and at the 58th SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia in Spain, on October 9-19.
North American film distribution company NEON (Oscar-winning films Parasite, Anora U.S. distributor) will release the film in North America in early 2026.
Singer and actor Kazunari Ninomiya (live-action Letters from Iwo Jima, Ōoku, Gantz, Assassination Classroom) stars in the film in his first collaboration with writer-director Genki Kawamura (producer on your name., Fireworks, Should We See it from the Side or the Bottom?, Suzume).
In the game, a player is trapped at a subway train station, in an underground passageway that goes in an endless loop. To escape to "Exit 8," the player must keep walking while looking carefully for any anomaly that foreshadows danger.
The film opened in Japan on August 8. The film sold 363,000 tickets and earned 450,283,700 yen (about US$3.07 million) in its first three days, and sold 516,000 tickets to earn 633 million yen (about US$4.33 million) in its first four days, which includes Monday (August 11 was the Mountain Day holiday in Japan).
The film is the 32nd 2D animated film in the Crayon Shin-chan series. The "series' first dance entertainment movie" takes place in India, the first time a film in the franchise takes place in the country. (The franchise is very popular in India.) Shinnosuke and the members of the Kasukabe Defense Force dance in the film.
Kento Kaku (live-action Clover, live-action Like a Dragon: Yakuza, Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom) plays Wolf, a dancing, singing Indian billionaire.
Masakazu Hashimoto, who has previously directed many films in the franchise including the 30th film Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Mononoke Ninja Chinpūden, directed the new film. Kimiko Ueno (Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Mononoke Ninja Chinpūden, Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shinkon Ryokō Hurricane) returned to the franchise to write the screenplay.
The live-action film of Ammitsu's Gazing at the Star Next Door (Tonari no Stella) manga dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend. Eiga Odekake Kozame Tokai no Otomodachi (Film Little Shark's Outings: The City's Friend) also dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend.
The compilation film based on the television anime of Visual Arts/Key's Summer Pockets visual novel rose from #2 to #1 in its third weekend in the mini-theater rankings.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), Eiga.com, comScore via KOFIC
