JAPAN BOX OFFICE | Demon Slayer breaks all time record for OW

[KATCH-2D2]

"Man" doesn't mean "explosions,guns,robots"...What a stupid comment.

I'm a guy and I never loved TF movies,I tried to watch but I was bored...Some movies like Captain America 2 or X-Men DOFP would deserve better there.

 

And don't forget Maleficent is not exactly considered as a "good" movie by critics, so Japanese are not so demanding either ^^

^ This.

 

EOT is a better movie than Maleficent and HTTYD2 is a better animation than Frozen. People keep bringing up TF4 even though they know full well there're better 'boy' movies out there. 

Edited July 22, 2014 by KATCH 22

[Ajbg]

"Man" doesn't mean "explosions,guns,robots"...What a stupid comment.I'm a guy and I never loved TF movies,I tried to watch but I was bored...Some movies like Captain America 2 or X-Men DOFP would deserve better there. And don't forget Maleficent is not exactly considered as a "good" movie by critics, so Japanese are not so demanding either ^^

Men, he thinks kids or teenagers.

[chasmmi]

Godzilla could do anything from 15M to 45M at this point. 15M would be a total rejection and 45 would be absolute breakout.

 

Expect it to hit between 20-30 barring an extreme reaction to the film one way or another,

 

I'm pretty sure Corpse (or a corpse impersonater) is due here with an early weekend prediction in the next day or two though which will be much more accurate than me

[Omni]

"Man" doesn't mean "explosions,guns,robots"...What a stupid comment.

Do you even know what I was referring to? Answer: no. Therefore I agree: your comment was pretty stupid.

Katch is someone who, like others here, usually roots for movies aiming at men/boys and not exactly beloved by critics (to use an euphemism). There was the need, then, to clarify that if a country's general taste for movies doesn't meet his (their) 'endorsement', then the same country should feel 'gratified' by that.

[Omni]

Just to develop the argument a little, Japan may have its flaws, but it is clearly one of the best markets. It doesn't let a film succeed just because it's a blockbuster filled with special effects (*cough*China*cough*), it's not 'sick of superhero fever', it doesn't let the many crappy animated sequels make more than peanuts (Ice Age, Madagascar, Shrek all flopped or got very mediocre numbers), it buried the embarassing Hobbit movies, it is very Pixar-friendly, it has a good balance between business from national and imported movies, it's the market where movies can become insanely leggy by modern standards, ecc ecc.

There's nothing else like that around here.

[Rsyu]

Just to develop the argument a little, Japan may have its flaws, but it is clearly one of the best markets. It doesn't let a film succeed just because it's a blockbuster filled with special effects (*cough*China*cough*), it's not 'sick of superhero fever', it doesn't let the many crappy animated sequels make more than peanuts (Ice Age, Madagascar, Shrek all flopped or got very mediocre numbers), it buried the embarassing Hobbit movies, it is very Pixar-friendly, it has a good balance between business from national and imported movies, it's the market where movies can become insanely leggy by modern standards, ecc ecc.

There's nothing else like that around here.

 

I agree with you on some points but you can't call all those types of films you listed crap just because you think or because you think other people don't like it. Obviously they appeal to a specific audience so the demand is there for them to be made. Going to the cinema is supposed to be a enjoyable experience and if those movies provide that then I don't see what is wrong with it. The Japanese box office is unique and fascinating but it isn't a standard of any sort that other markets should aspire to. each country has different tastes depending on their cultural heritage and history etc.

[Corpse]

Weekend Ranking (07-19-20)

 

01 (01) Maleficent (Disney) Week 3

02 (--) Pokemon XY: The Cocoon of Destruction & Diancie (Toho) DEBUT

03 (--) Memories of Marnie (Toho) DEBUT

04 (--) Kamen Rider Gaim the Movie: The Great Soccer Match! (Toei) DEBUT

05 (02) Edge of Tomorrow (Paramount) Week 3

06 (03) Say, "I Love You" (Shochiku) Week 2

07 (--) Planes: Fire & Rescue (Disney) DEBUT

08 (04) Frozen (Disney) Week 19

09 (05) Mission Impossible: Samurai (Shochiku) Week 5

10 (06) The Grudge: The Beginning of the End (Showgate) Week 4

 

Enter the biggest weekend of the year!   The start of Summer vacation, except... this year's Marine Day Weekend happened to be the worst in at least 15 years, and had the lowest grossing #1 film since at least 1992.  And all four openers either disappointed or bombed in the process.  And the first half of 2014 was so strong, too!  

 

>Maleficent held strong against the wave of new competition (though they all disappointed), dropping just 20% to earn ¥479,924,000 ($4.7 million) with 350,746 admissions.  It lost to Pokemon XY in admissions, but its 3D share and seemingly high adult audience was more than enough to counter Pokemon's much lower ticket prices.

 

After Monday, Maleficent has grossed an impressive ¥3.28 billion ($32.4 million) with 2.42 million admissions after 17-days.  Unless Godzilla explodes this upcoming weekend, or Stand By Me, Doraemon really breaks-out, Maleficent will be the #1 film this Summer with a projected total ¥6-7 billion ($60-70 million).

 

>Pokemon XY: The Cocoon of Destruction debuted in second (1st in admissions, however) with ¥393,259,400 ($3.9 million) with 360,190 admissions.  No 3-Day figure has been reported yet.  This is is 20% less than last year's film, though, and the third overall weakest opening in the franchise (ahead of just Movies 4 and 5).  It's very likely to miss the ¥3 billion ($30 million) mark and will probably end up as the second lowest grossing film, perhaps even the lowest grossing film in the franchise, which is currently movie 5 (¥2.67 billion), the sole film right now that grossed less than ¥3 billion.

 

This is also pretty concerning drop.  Not only because this is the first film of a new generation, which typically sees an increase on opening weekend over the previous film and ALWAYS grosses more than the previous film, but also because of the significant drop-off in attendance.  It's down 23% in admissions compared to last year's film...  There's definitely something (Yokai Watch?) that's happened to the series over the past year or two with the steep declines.  

 

>Memories of Marnie settled for third place with ¥378,865,500 ($3.7 million) with 285,234 admissions on 461 screens.  I was kinda relieved when I saw the weekend number almost match From Up on Poppy Hill (98% of its debut), but that's not really the film you want to be competing against.  With Monday included, its 3-day total reached a decent ¥553,750,000 ($5.5 million).  Studio Ghibli film, with the exception of Tales from Earthsea, have always earned a multiplier over 10 in July, so Memories of Marnie still has a decent shot at exceeding ¥4 billion ($40 million).  If it achieves this milestone, I think it can be considered a mild success.  

 

Studio Ghibli has found themselves in a difficult situation now though with their non-Miyazaki films having consistently missing ¥5 billion (the blockbuster mark in Japan) since 2011.  Studio Ghibli films are very expensive, amongst the country's most-expensive productions (budgets usually range between ¥2.5-3 billion), so they can't afford to keep having films barely make back budget much longer.  Studio Ghibli is definitely in a rough place right now.    

 

>The latest Kamen Rider is also a disappointment.  Its debut of ¥169,835,500 ($1.6 million) and 138,528 admissions on 309 screens is 25% and 36% less than the past two films.  The franchise has been struggle since about 2012 with most of the films barely reaching ¥1 billion ($10 million) when they used to earn ¥1.5 billion, and this latest one will need a lot of luck to reach the milestone.  

 

>Planes: Fire & Rescue was the fourth disappointment over the weekend, dropping over 50% from its predecessor's opening weekend.  Playing on 313 screens, it only took in ¥77,293,200 ($760,000) and 65,459 admissions over the weekend.  It'll probably earn just over ¥600 million ($6 million).

[Corpse]

Pokemon (Box-Office History)

 

Opening Weekends:

¥780,871,178 ($6.5 million) / 742,978 :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: The Rise of Darkrai (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2007)

¥703,799,691 ($6.7 million) / 670,285  :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Giratina and the Sky Warrior - Shaymin (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2008)

¥672,566,497 ($7.1 million) / 641,700 :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Arceus - To a Conquering Spacetime (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2009)

¥629,740,742 ($7.7 million) / 600,602  :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Master of Illusions - Zoroark (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2010)

¥540,152,537 ($6.7 million) / 515,905 :: Pokemon Best Wishes: Victini and the Black Hero - Zekrom/Victini and the White Hero - Reshiram (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2011)

¥515,192,258 ($4.7 million) / 491,192 :: Pokemon Advanced: Mew and the Wave Hero - Lucario (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2005)

¥509,142,046 ($6.4 million) / 489,862 :: Pokemon Best Wishes: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman - Keldeo (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2012) 

¥500,186,988 ($4.6 million) / 475,462 :: Pokemon Advanced: Deoxys - Sky-Splitting Visitor (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2004)

¥486,293,500 ($5.0 million) / 464,839 :: Pokemon Best Wishes: ExtremeSpeed Genesect - Mewtwo Awakens (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2013)

¥450,168,289 ($3.8 million) / 427,104 :: Pokemon Advanced: Jirachi - Wishing Star of Seven Nights (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2003)

¥416,381,335 ($3.6 million) / 396,472 :: Pokemon Advanced: Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2006)

¥393,259,400 ($3.9 million) / 360,190 :: Pokemon XY: The Cocoon of Destruction & Diancie (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2014)

¥380,549,045 ($3.1 million) / 354,328 :: Pokemon: Celebi - A Timeless Encounter (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2001)

¥292,607,438 ($2.4 million) / 273,209 :: Pokemon: Guardians of Altomare - Latias and Latios (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2002)

 

Totals:

¥7.54 billion ($77.8 million) / 6.54 million :: Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 1998)

¥6.36 billion ($64.8 million) / 5.60 million :: Pokemon: Revelation Lugia (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 1999)

¥5.02 billion ($47.2 million) / 4.78 million :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: The Rise of Darkrai (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2007)

¥4.85 billion ($45.7 million) / 4.50 million :: Pokemon: Lord of the Unown Tower - Entei (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2000)

¥4.80 billion ($53.3 million) / 4.66 million :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Giratina and the Sky Warrior - Shaymin (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2008)

¥4.67 billion ($51.6 million) / 4.40 million :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Arceus - To a Conquering Spacetime (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2009)

¥4.50 billion ($38.4 million) / 4.28 million :: Pokemon Advanced: Jirachi - Wishing Star of Seven Nights (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2003)

¥4.38 billion ($39.1 million) / 4.16 million :: Pokemon Advanced: Deoxys - Sky-Splitting Visitor (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2004)

¥4.33 billion ($56.1 million) / 4.13 million :: Pokemon Best Wishes: Victini and the Black Hero - Zekrom/Victini and the White Hero - Reshiram (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2011)

¥4.30 billion ($38.9 million) / 4.10 million :: Pokemon Advanced: Mew and the Wave Hero - Lucario (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2005)

¥4.16 billion ($50.3 million) / 3.97 million :: Pokemon Diamond & Pearl: Master of Illusions - Zoroark (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2010)

¥3.90 billion ($32.5 million) / 3.63 million :: Pokemon: Celebi - A Timeless Encounter (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2001)

¥3.61 billion ($46.0 million) / 3.44 million :: Pokemon Best Wishes: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman - Keldeo (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2012)

¥3.40 billion ($28.2 million) / 3.23 million :: Pokemon Advanced: Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea (Kunihiko Yuyamai, July 2006)

¥3.17 billion ($33.0 million) / 3.01 million :: Pokemon Best Wishes: ExtremeSpeed Genesect - Mewtwo Awakens (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2013) 

¥2.67 billion ($21.8 million) / 2.55 million :: Pokemon: Guardians of Altomare - Latias and Latios (Kunihiko Yuyama, July 2002)

Franchise Total: ¥71.66 billion ($724.7 million) / 66.78 million admissions

Edited July 22, 2014 by Corpse

[Corpse]

[Mojoguy]

I didn't mean just this year though. It seems in the past few years only Hollywood movies geared toward female audience could make decent money in Japan. It's ridiculous. You let women rules the cinema and all you have left were Disney princesses, cute animations or tear-jerking love stories.

 

Sorry but Japan B.O. just makes me so frustrated because it's rejected 99% the movies I wanted to do well. Maybe Japanese guys should go to the cinemas more often. 

Women should just stay in the kitchen right?

 

Stop being so misogynistic. Just because you don't like movies aimed at female audience doesn't mean they shouldn't do well.

 

Also Japan loves PIXAR movies, 13 of their 14 movies have had male leads.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Mojoguy

[Corpse]

To maybe explain why, what's is normally the biggest weekend of the year was a bust this year, the worst in over 15 years with the lowest grossing #1 film since 1992...  

 

Frozen DVD Release (July 16th):

Frozen was released on DVD and sold 1.514 million copies in a week.  That's about ¥8.2 billion ($80 million) worth of sales in a single week.      

 

This gives it the biggest first week sales of ever, ahead of Spirited Away's 1.406 million first week sales, and Finding Nemo's 945,000 first week sales. 

 

But not only did it break the first week sales record, 1.514 million ranks it as the 3rd best-selling DVD ever.  In one week, it surpassed the lifetime sales of EVERY film except for Spirited Away and Finding Nemo  And it'll become the #2 best-selling DVD really soon when it passes Finding Nemo's 1.565 million copies.  DVD/CD sales are very, very frontloaded in Japan, so it'll still need some time before it beats Spirited Away's 2.41 million copies, but it will likely do so.

 

Yokai Watch 2 Game Release (July 10th) / Advance Movie Tickets Sell Out:

Yokai Watch 2 sold 1.312 million copies in 4 days (about ¥5.4 billion ($52 million) in sales), making it the best-selling video game in Japan already this year and the biggest first-week sales since Pokemon XY last year (1.867 million).  

 

And 3DS sales were up 286% for the week as a result.  The first Yokai Watch game was also #3 for the week.

 

Not to mention that advance tickets for the first moving being released in December sold out of the first wave of 500,000 tickets in 2 days over the weekend.  That's about ¥400 million ($4 million) in advance ticket sales.  That's also almost 150,000 more tickets than any film did in admissions over the weekend for comparison.  

 

That's a lot of money being spent in a week.  So maybe, just maybe, with these two huge releases for families and kids leading into the Summer vacation weekend, the weekend was deflated and will recover next weekend.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Corpse

[Mojoguy]

 

DVD/CD sales are very, very frontloaded in Japan

Thank god for that. I wasn't ready to wait another 12 weeks to get a idea about how Frozen video sales will end up doing in Japan!

[katniss]

 

To maybe explain why, what's is normally the biggest weekend of the year was a bust this year, the worst in over 15 years with the lowest grossing #1 film since 1992...  

 

Frozen DVD Release (July 16th):

Frozen was released on DVD and sold 1.514 million copies in a week.  That's about ¥8.2 billion ($80 million) worth of sales in a single week.      

 

This gives it the biggest first week sales of ever, ahead of Spirited Away's 1.406 million first week sales, and Finding Nemo's 945,000 first week sales. 

 

But not only did it break the first week sales record, 1.514 million ranks it as the 3rd best-selling DVD ever.  In one week, it surpassed the lifetime sales of EVERY film except for Spirited Away and Finding Nemo  And it'll become the #2 best-selling DVD really soon when it passes Finding Nemo's 1.565 million copies.  DVD/CD sales are very, very frontloaded in Japan, so it'll still need some time before it beats Spirited Away's 2.41 million copies, but it will likely do so.

 

Yokai Watch 2 Game Release (July 10th) / Advance Movie Tickets Sell Out:

Yokai Watch 2 sold 1.312 million copies in 4 days (about ¥5.4 billion ($52 million) in sales), making it the best-selling video game in Japan already this year and the biggest first-week sales since Pokemon XY last year (1.867 million).  

 

And 3DS sales were up 286% for the week as a result.  The first Yokai Watch game was also #3 for the week.

 

Not to mention that advance tickets for the first moving being released in December sold out of the first wave of 500,000 tickets in 2 days over the weekend.  That's almost 150,000 more tickets than any film did in admissions over the weekend for comparison.  

 

That's a lot of money being spent in a week.  So maybe, just maybe, with these two huge releases for families and kids leading into the Summer vacation weekend, the weekend was deflated and will recover next weekend.

 

 

This proves my point about Frozen and the idiotic decision to release the DVD so early in its run.  The Japanese eyeballs that should have been plastered against the silver screen in a Toho cinema are now plastered against the LED TV at home. 

[Mojoguy]

This proves my point about Frozen and the idiotic decision to release the DVD so early in its run.  The Japanese eyeballs that should have been plastered against the silver screen in a Toho cinema are now plastered against the LED TV at home. 

Time to give it a rest already. It is pointless to be complain about Frozen's video released, which is now long done with.

 

Move on to something else like I have like tracking Frozen's video sales.

[Corpse]

Thank god for that. I wasn't ready to wait another 12 weeks to get a idea about how Frozen video sales will end up doing in Japan!

Well, I should say the vast majority are frontloaded. 

 

Some Studio Ghibli films, namely Totoro, Nausicaa, and Kiki's Delivery Service, are still among the week's Top 100 DVD sales years after their release.  Frozen could end up in this situation, so you may have to wait 5-10 years before getting an idea, if any at all, because who knows how high Totoro will go, it's been selling 500-1,000 copies every week for like 10 years or something.

[Mojoguy]

Some Studio Ghibli films, namely Totoro, Nausicaa, and Kiki's Delivery Service, are still among the week's Top 100 DVD sales years after their release.  Frozen could end up in this situation, so you may have to wait 5-10 years before getting an idea, if any at all, because who knows how high Totoro will go, it's been selling 500-1,000 copies every week for like 10 years or something.

Don't scare me like that!

[Cynosure]

Apparently 'Frozen' also sold 32,249 copies of a 'Frozen MovieNEX Plus 3D (Limited Online Pre-Order Release)' edition so its one week tally is even higher than what you've mentioned. It's still third of all time though for like a thousand copies.

 

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-22/japan-animation-blu-ray-disc-ranking-july-14-20/.76915

 

We also have Spirited Away's Blu-ray release : 9,560 copies sold.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Cynosure

[Inuyugi]

I'm surprised that a Pokemon and Ghibli films didn't open higher... maybe they'll have legs.

[Mojoguy]

Apparently 'Frozen' also sold 32,249 copies of a 'Frozen MovieNEX Plus 3D (Limited Online Pre-Order Release)' edition so its one week tally is even higher than what you've mentioned. It's still third of all time though for like a thousand copies.

 

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-07-22/japan-animation-blu-ray-disc-ranking-july-14-20/.76915

You know Disney is going "HELL YA!" after reading that article. Then again Disney is probably going "HELL YA!" at the end of every sentence whenever they talk about Frozen these days.

[Mojoguy]

So is Spirited Away's 9,560 Bluray copies sold on the first week considered good? I'm assuming pretty much everyone in Japan already has the movie on dvd?