The First Slam Dunk, the new anime film of Takehiko Inoue‘s Slam Dunk basketball manga, 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 the weekend.
The film opened in Japan on Saturday. The movie has IMAX screenings in 40 cinemas all over Japan, and Dolby Atmos screenings in 34 cinemas. The movie will get Dolby Cinema screenings starting 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.
Makoto Shinkai‘s Suzume (Suzume no Tojimari) film dropped from #1 to #2 in its fourth weekend. The film sold 555,000 tickets over the weekend, and earned 747,513,070 yen (about US$5.48 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has now sold a cumulative total of 5.61 million tickets for 7,595,005,820 yen (about US$55.69 million). It is now the #87 film of all time at the Japanese box office.
The film opened at #1 on November 11 and sold 1.33 million tickets and earned 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.”
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Scarlet Bond (Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken: Guren no Kizuna-hen), the franchise‘s anime film, dropped from #2 to #4 in its second weekend. The film earned 154,622,540 yen (about US$1.13 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 720,168,880 yen (about US$5.27 million).
The film opened in Japan on November 25, and ranked at #2 and sold 225,000 tickets for 297 million yen (about US$2.14 million) in its opening weekend. It sold 313,000 tickets for 416 million yen (about US$3.19 million) in its first three days.
Fuse, the author of the original light novel series, drafted the film’s brand-new original story. The story centers on a new country named Raja, located to the west of Tempest. Rimuru and his companions get involved in a long-running conspiracy that swirls around a woman with a mysterious power. Rimuru and his commander Benimaru also encounter another ogre survivor named Hiiro, who used to hold Benimaru in high regard.
Crunchyroll will screen the film in all major global territories (excluding Asia) in early 2023. The film’s rollout overseas will start in December, and will eventually include the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, France, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South and Central America.
The One Piece Film Red anime dropped from #4 to #7 in its 18th weekend at the Japanese box office. The film earned 39,196,700 yen (about US$287,300) from Friday to Sunday. The film has now earned a cumulative total of 18,609,882,490 yen (about US$136.4 million).
One Piece Film Red opened in Japan on August 6. The movie has become the franchise‘s highest-selling and highest-earning film installment, in terms of both the number of tickets sold and yen earned at the box office. The film has also topped Top Gun: Maverick to become the highest-earning film to open in Japan so far this year. The anime is both the #6 all-time highest-earning anime film in Japan and the #9 all-time highest-earning film in Japan.
Crunchyroll released One Piece Film Red in the United States and Canada on November 4, and in Australia and New Zealand on November 3. The film earned an estimated total of US$9,475,251 in its first three days in the United States to rank #2 overall in the U.S. box office for the weekend.
The film centers on a new character named Uta, Shanks’ daughter. Kaori Nazuka is the speaking voice of Uta, while Ado is the character’s singing voice. Ado also performs the film’s theme song “Shinjidai” (“New Genesis”). Goro Taniguchi (Code Geass, One Piece: Defeat The Pirate Ganzak! special) directed One Piece Film Red. Tsutomu Kuroiwa (One Piece Film Gold, One Piece: Heart of Gold, GANTZ:O, live-action Black Butler) wrote the screenplay, and One Piece manga creator Eiichiro Oda himself served as executive producer.
Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Kuraki Yūyami no Scherzo (Scherzo of a Dark Dusk), the second film in the Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- anime film series, dropped from #9 to #10 its seventh weekend. The film earned 21,543,976 yen (about US$157,800) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,076,475,134 yen (about US$7.88 million).
The second film opened for regular screenings in Japan on October 22 but opened on IMAX and 4DX screenings one day earlier on October 21.
The film features a returning cast. In addition, Kaede Hondo plays Liten, and Yūsuke Kobayashi plays Morte. Ayako Kohno (unit director on Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic, High School Fleet, The Seven Deadly Sins the Movie: Prisoners of the Sky) returned to direct the film at A-1 Pictures, and Kento Toya (Sword Art Online: Alicization – War of Underworld, The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments) returned to design the characters. Yasuyuki Kai again served as action director, and Yuki Kajiura returned to compose the music. Eir Aoi performed the theme song “Shinzо̄” (Heart).
The live-action film of Katsutoshi Murase and Welzard‘s Karada Sagashi (Body Search) horror manga dropped off the top 10 in its eighth weekend.
TOHO‘s 4K remastered screening of the 1982 Space Adventure Cobra – The Movie anime ranked at #5 in the mini-theater ranking in its opening weekend. TOHO opened the film on December 2.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC
