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Live-Action Fly Me to Saitama Sequel Film Debuts at #1, Godzilla Minus One Drops to #2
posted on by Adriana Hazra
The film was delayed from its original planned opening last year. The staff had put its production on hold following lead actor Gackt's announcement of an indefinite hiatus in September 2021. The hiatus was due to an early onset neurological disease that was progressing into a "life-threatening condition," resulting in dysphonia (disorder of the voice). Gackt announced in May 2022 that he was steadily recovering physically, and the film resumed production in October 2022.
The sequel film centers on the second phase of the "Japan Saitamization Plan" of the Saitama Liberation Front led by Rei Asami (Gackt) and Momomi Dannoura (Nikaidō). Seeking greater freedom and peace, the group heads to the Kansai region in the west, where an incident between the east and west will spark a fierce battle.
The first Tonde Saitama (Fly Me to Saitama) film opened in Japan in February 2019. The movie sold 191,000 tickets for 259,038,800 yen (about US$2.33 million) on in its opening weekend to top the Japanese box office.
Godzilla Minus One opened in Japan on November 3, 2023 ("Godzilla Day"), which was the anniversary of the first Godzilla film's November 3, 1954 release. The new film screened at The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) as the closing film of this year's event on November 1.
The film sold 648,600 tickets for 1,041,193,460 yen (about US$6.93 million) in its first three days in the Japanese box office. The film sold 14.7% more tickets and earned 22.8% more in its first three days than the last live-action Japanese Godzilla film, Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Shin Godzilla, did in its first three days in 2016.
Ryunosuke Kamiki plays protagonist Kōichi Shikishima, and Minami Hamabe plays heroine Noriko Ōishi. (The two also lead the cast of NHK's ongoing weekday morning series Ranman.) Other cast members include Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Andō, and Kuranosuke Sasaki.
The film will open in U.S. theaters on December 1.
Yamazaki is the director and writer, and is also credited for visual effects. Yamazaki has primarily directed live-action films, including the Always: Sunset on Third Street, Returner, and Parasyte films, but has also directed CG films such as Stand By Me Doraemon.
The film opened in Japan last November 17 and sold 111,500 tickets and earned 160,106,620 yen (about US$1.07 million) in its first three days.
Gou Koga (Gegege no Kitarō: Nippon Bakuretsu!!, One Piece Episode of Sabo) directed the film at Toei Animation, and Hiroyuki Yoshino (Macross Frontier, World Trigger, 13 episodes in 2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō) wrote the screenplay. Touko Yatabe (2018 GeGeGe no Kitarō's third ending sequence unit director, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time assistant director) designed the characters. The main cast includes Toshihiko Seki as Kitarō's father, who would eventually become Medama Oyaji, and Hidenobu Kikuchi as Mizuki, a salaryman who heads to a cursed village under secret orders.
The film is part of four "big projects" commemorating the 100-year anniversary of Shigeru Mizuki's birth. Mizuki passed away in 2015 at 93 years old. Another project is a new Akuma Kun anime that premiered on Netflix on November 9.
The film opened in Japan on November 3 and sold 192,300 tickets for 242,553,320 yen (about US$1.61 million) in its first three days in the Japanese box office.
Hazumu Sakuta (Neko no Dayan, Uchū Nanchara Kotetsu-kun) directed the third film at Fanworks. Takashi Sumita (Europe Kikaku) returned from the first film to pen the third film's script. Yoshihiko Inohara and Manami Honjō returned from the first and second film to narrate the third film.
In the third film's story, the characters find an old building deep in the forest. The building turns out to be a toy factory. They all begin to make toys in the factory, with Shirokuma using his skill to operate the sewing machines, and Penguin? inspecting toys with a magnifying glass. But the factory itself hides something more special.
The manga follows mystery-solving college student Totonō Kunō. At the beginning of the story, the police bring him in for questioning on suspicion of the murder of his classmate. The film centers on the manga's "Hiroshima Arc," which appears in the manga's second to fourth volumes. The "Hiroshima Arc" begins when Kunō travels to Hiroshima, and gets involved in a fight for the Kariatsumari family's inheritance.
The film opened on September 15, and sold 609,600 tickets to earn 850,483,760 yen (about US$5.71 million) in its first three days, ranking #1 in its opening weekend. Masaki Suda reprised his role as protagonist Totonō Kunō from the manga's live-action series.
Hiroaki Matsuyama, Tomoko Aizawa, and Ken Arai all return from the series as director, scriptwriter, and music composer, respectively.
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Kazuya Konaka (Rayca, 2003 Astro Boy) directed the film, with Hirotoshi Kobayashi (2003 Astro Boy, Dr. Pinoko no Mori no Bōken, Atagoal wa Neko no Mori) penning the script. Jun Ichikawa (The Morose Mononokean II, True Cooking Master Boy, Seven Days War) composed the music. Frebari produced the film. Pop duo Puffy (PuffyAmiYumi) performed the film's theme song "SweetSweet."
Japanese company Epoch created the original toy line in 1985. The franchise inspired a 1987 American animated series, as well as 1998 British stop-motion animated series. The franchise also inspired a three-episode Japanese CG anime video series in 2007. In the United States, the franchise is also known as Calico Critters.
The fourth film in the six-part Girls und Panzer das Finale film series is still out of the top 10 in its eighth weekend, but it earned 34,607,240 yen (about US$235,200) from Friday to Sunday, higher than Don't Call It Mystery in box office gross. (Don't Call It Mystery sold more tickets, hence the higher ranking by Kōgyō Tsūshin, but Girls und Panzer das Finale is still screening in MX4D and 4DX with higher ticket prices.) The film has earned a cumulative toal of 582,241,000 yen (about US$3.95 million).
The live-action film of Tatsuya Iguchi and Makoto Mizuta's Out manga fell off the top 10 in its second weekend, but still earned 15,445,200 yen (about US$104,300) from Friday to Sunday. The film has earned a cumulative total of 91,772,560 yen (about US$619,800).
"Gintama on Theater 2D: Baragaki-hen," the compilation film of the "Baragaki" (Thorny) arc of the Gintama anime, is still out of the top 10 in its third weekend, but still earned 19,644,200 yen (about US$132,600) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 111,493,300 yen (about US$752,800).
Eiga Precure All Stars F , the 20th anniversary film in the Precure All Stars crossover anime film series, is still out of the top 10 in its 11th weekend, but still earned 16,000,890 yen (about US$108,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,452,043,430 yen (about US$9.80 million).
One Piece Film Red's one-month encore screening ended five weeks after opening on October 20.
Kōkaku Kidōtai SAC_2045 Saigo no Ningen (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 The Last Human), the compilation film for the Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 anime's second season, ranked at #1 after opening on Thursday on the mini-theater rankings.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2) (link 3), comScore via KOFIC
