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Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer Film Earns 120 Million Yuan as #5 Japanese Film in China

The Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer anime film opened in China on November 9 and earned 80 million yuan (about US$11.5 million) in its opening weekend to rank at #2 on the weekend box office. By November 18, the film had earned 120 million yuan (about US$17.2 million or 1.9 million yen) on about 7,000 screens.

The film's box office takings mark a record high for the franchise in China, and places it at #5 among the all-time highest-grossing Japanese films in China after your name. and three Doraemon movies. The film surpassed One Piece Film Gold, Boruto -Naruto the Movie-, and the live-action Gintama film in China.

The Detective Conan (Case Closed) anime is popular in China: the films have had theatrical releases in China since 2009's Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser and, as of this year, several streaming services are offering a Chinese dub for new episodes on the same days as their Japanese premieres. However, 2016's Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare film underperformed at the box office with only 31.12 million yuan (about US$4.48), so 2017's Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter film did not open in Chinese theaters.

Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer opened on April 13 in Japan. The movie is the highest-earning film in the franchise. In Japan, the film has earned more than 9.1 billion yen (about US$80.3 million), and is the eighth highest-grossing anime film in Japan of all time, and the 47th highest-grossing film in Japan in general. As of Friday, the film had earned 11 billion yen worldwide.

Source: Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)