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2018 Doraemon Film Sells Record 4.28 Million Tickets to Top Doraemon Film Franchise
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
TOHO revealed on Monday that Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island), the Doraemon franchise's 38th film, has earned more than 4.88 billion yen (about US$45.58 million) in 37 days, and has sold around 4,282,000 tickets. The film has now sold more tickets than any other film in the Doraemon franchise. The previous film to hold the record was the 1989 film Doraemon: Nobita at the Birth of Japan, which sold around 4.2 million tickets.
The film became the highest-grossing anime in the current 13-installment Doraemon film series last week after grossing more than 4.44 billion yen (about US$41.5 million) in 32 days. The film fell from #3 to #4 in its sixth weekend at the box office during the April 7-8 weekend.
The latest Doraemon film is inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island novel. In the film's story, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo set out on an adventure in the Caribbean Sea. Nobita is the captain of a ship and fights his enemies on board. Shizuka gets kidnapped, and a storm impedes their journey. Mini-Dora robots help Nobita and friends on their journey. When the adventurers finally find the mysterious Treasure Island, they discover it is more than just an ordinary island.
Kazuaki Imai, an episode director on the Doraemon television anime, directed the project as his first Doraemon franchise film. Novelist Genki Kawamura (your name., The Boy and The Beast producer) penned the script.
Chihayafuru: Musubi (Chihayafuru: Conclusion), the third live-action film of Yuki Suetsugu's Chihayafuru manga, fell from #4 to #7 in its fourth weekend. As of last weekend the film had sold a cumulative total of 1.02 million tickets for a cumulative total of 1,193,917,000 yen (about US$10 million).
The film takes place two years after the first two films, and depicts Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata in their third year of high school.
The Precure Super Stars! anime film dropped from #8 to #9 in its fourth weekend. As of last weekend the film had earned a cumulative total of 646,218,000 yen (about US$6.10 million).
The film centers on the characters of the new Hugtto! Precure television anime series, and also features characters from Kirakira ☆ Precure a la Mode as well as Maho Girls Precure!. The film is part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Precure franchise.
The live-action film of Amu Meguro's Honey So Sweet manga fell off the top 10 chart in its second weekend.
Sources: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Eiga.com, Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC
