Anime

Chainsaw Man Anime Movie Tops Japanese Box Office, Jujutsu Kaisen Slips to Second

The Japanese box office saw some significant shifts in the rankings this past weekend. The film “Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc” made a remarkable comeback, reclaiming the top spot in its ninth weekend. The movie, based on the Reze Arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s popular manga “Chainsaw Man,” sold 217,000 tickets and grossed 337,437,800 yen (approximately USD 2.14 million) from Friday to Sunday. Since its release, the film has accumulated a total of 5.72 million tickets sold and earned 8,769,977,700 yen (approximately USD 55.70 million).

“Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc” opened on September 19 and debuted at number one in its opening weekend, displacing the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai” film, which had held the top spot for nine consecutive weeks. The film sold 807,000 tickets and grossed 1,251,178,500 yen (approximately USD 8.46 million) in its opening weekend.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has secured worldwide theatrical rights for the film. The movie opened in theaters in the United States on October 24. Reina Ueda voices the character Reze in the film.

Meanwhile, “Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution,” a compilation film, dropped from the number one spot to number two in its second weekend. The film sold 176,000 tickets and grossed 258,305,200 yen (approximately USD 1.64 million) from Friday to Sunday. Since its release, the film has sold a total of 740,000 tickets and earned 1,124,842,000 yen (approximately USD 7.14 million).

“Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution – Shibuya Incident x The Culling Game Begins” opened on November 7 and sold 417,700 tickets, grossing 639,785,800 yen (approximately USD 4.13 million) in its first three days. The film is a compilation of the second season’s “Shibuya Incident” and the first two episodes of the third season, which is set to premiere in January. Koji Yusa voices the character Naoya Zen’in in the film.

The third season of “Jujutsu Kaisen” is scheduled to premiere in Japan on January 8.

“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai,” the first film in the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle” trilogy, climbed back up from the ninth spot to the fourth in its 18th weekend. The film earned 172,970,400 yen (approximately USD 1.09 million) from Friday to Sunday. Since its release, the film has sold a total of 26.04 million tickets and earned 37,927,589,200 yen (approximately USD 240 million).

The film had previously sold a total of 23,042,671 tickets for 33,056,606,000 yen (approximately USD 224 million) as of September 15, its 60th day in the Japanese box office. This made it the second highest-earning film of all time at the Japanese box office, surpassing Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s 2001 film “Spirited Away.”

The film opened in China on November 14 and earned 373 million RMB (approximately USD 52.53 million) in its first three days. The film’s IMAX screenings in China earned the equivalent of USD 12.3 million, making it the highest-earning and selling IMAX opening for a Japanese film in China. “Ne Zha 2” is the only animated film with a higher IMAX opening in the country.

The film is now the highest-earning anime film of all time worldwide, as well as the highest-earning Japanese film of all time worldwide. As of November 16, the film has sold 89,177,796 tickets for 106,370,568,950 yen (approximately USD 685 million) worldwide. This makes it the first Japanese film to earn over 100 billion yen (approximately USD 644 million) worldwide.

“Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train,” the October 2020 film from the same franchise, is currently the highest-earning film in Japan, with a total take of 40.75 billion yen (approximately USD 277 million in current conversion).

“Evangelion: 1.0 You Are [Not] Alone” debuted at number six for the 30th-anniversary monthly revival screenings of the “Evangelion” anime franchise’s six films in theaters across Japan. The film earned 95,645,600 yen (approximately USD 607,100) in its first three days.

4K restoration screenings of Studio Ghibli’s “Princess Mononoke” film fell from the fifth spot to the eighth in its fourth weekend. The film earned 112,767,500 yen (approximately USD 715,800) from Friday to Sunday and has earned a total of 1,193,555,200 yen (approximately USD 7.58 million).

The 4K remaster of Mamoru Oshii and Yoshitaka Amano’s 1985 original video anime “Angel’s Egg” (Tenshi no Tamago) opened in Japan on November 14 in 10 theaters. The film earned 12 million yen (approximately USD 76,150) in its first three days.