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3 Ghibli Movies Top Japanese Box Office Once Again
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Paramount Pictures' Sonic the Hedgehog movie dropped from #6 to #7 in its second weekend at the Japanese box office. The film earned 25,767,750 yen (about US$240,100) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 112,187,300 yen (about US$1.04 million). The film opened in Japan on June 26, after being delayed from its original March 27 opening date due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Paramount Pictures is producing a sequel to the film, with Jeff Fowler returning as director, and Pat Casey and Josh Miller as returning scriptwriters. The film earned US$70,002,074 to rank #1 over its Presidents' Day holiday opening weekend from February 14 to 17 in the United States. The movie has earned a total of US$146,066,470 in the United States as of Monday, and has a worldwide gross of US$306,766,470. The film debuted digitally on March 31, and shipped on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 19.
Four Studio Ghibli movies once again ranked in the Japanese box office top 10 — including all three of the top three films. Studio Ghibli and TOHO launched a campaign to show the studio's movies in 396 theaters in Japan beginning on June 26. Spirited Away (93,113,150 yen or US$867,700 for the weekend, and 313,373,950 yen or US$2.91 million cumulative in 2020), Princess Mononoke (91,000,000 yen or US$848,000, and 301,281,400 yen or US$2.80 million cumulative), and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ranked #1 to #3, respectively. Tales from Earthsea (13,558,000 yen or US$126,300, and 51,389,750 yen or US$478,600 cumulative) ranked #8.
The 4K remaster of Katsuhiro Ōtomo's Akira anime film dropped from #7 off the top 10. The film still earned 6,787,000 yen (about US$63,200) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative 2020 total of 136,544,900 yen (about US$1.27 million). The film opened in 36 Japanese IMAX theaters on April 3.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin, Eiga.com, comScore via KOFIC
