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Live-Action Cells at Work! Film Stays at #1, 2024 Nintama Rantaro Anime Film Opens at #4

The live-action film of Akane Shimizu's Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibō) manga stayed at #1 in the Japanese box office in its second weekend. The film sold 386,000 tickets from Friday through Sunday earning 532,464,400 yen (about US$3.38 million). It has earned a cumulative total of 1,758,132,780 yen (about US$11.17 million), selling 1.28 million tickets.

The film opened in Japan on December 13 and ranked at #1. The film sold a total of 612,000 tickets and earned a total of 844,768,310 yen (about US$5.49 million) in its first three days.

The film has 4D (4DX and MX4D) and IMAX screenings in Japan.

Hideki Takeuchi (live-action Nodame Cantabile, Thermae Romae, Fly Me to Saitama) directed the film, with a script by Yūichi Tokunaga (live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Liar x Liar, Princess Jellyfish). Warner Bros. Japan distributed the film. Official HiGE DANdism performed the theme song "50%."

Gekijо̄-ban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyо̄ no Gunshi (Nintama Rantaro the Movie: The Dokutake Ninja Team's Strongest Strategist), the first anime film in the Nintama Rantaro anime franchise in 13 years, opened on Friday and ranked at #4 in its first weekend. The film has sold 198,000 tickets including for advanced screenings, and has earned a total of 295 million yen (about US$1.87 million).

The movie is based on Kazuhisa Sakaguchi's 2013 novel of the same name, which centers on Rantaro's teacher Hansuke Doi losing a battle against Sonnamon and Zatto Konnamon becoming a teacher at Ninjutsu Academy.

Yasuhiro Mamiya voices Happōsai Hieta, replacing the late Shōzō Iizuka, who voiced the character in the anime series. In addition, Naniwa Danshi members Ryūsei Ōnishi and Jōichirō Fujiwara appear in the film as guest voice actors.

Masaya Fujimori (Doraemon movies) returned from the previous film to direct the new one at Ajia-do, the same animation studio for the television series. Original novel writer Sakaguchi wrote the screenplay.

Saint Oniisan The Movie ~Holy Men vs Akuma Gundan~ (Holy Men vs Demon Army), the first live-action film of Hikaru Nakamura's Saint Young Men (Saint Oniisan) manga, debuted at #6.

The comedy manga imagines if Buddha and Jesus shared a low-rent Tokyo apartment with no bathroom.

The returning cast and staff from the manga's previous live-action series adaptations include Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Promare's Galo Thymos) as Jesus and Shōta Sometani (BELLE's Kamishin, Suzume's Minoru Okabe) as Buddha. Yūichi Fukuda (live-action Gintama, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. films) is returning to direct the film and pen the script based on an extended story ("Screen e no Nagai Michi" or The Long Road to the Big Screen) that Nakamura created for the film.

The film finale of the live-action series adaptation of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari's Oshi no Ko manga opened at #7.

The live-action Oshi no Ko series debuted on Amazon Prime worldwide on November 28 with eight episodes, and the sequel film then premiered after the series in theaters on Friday.

The filmmaker known by the mononym Smith (Inside Mari, I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die, music videos for Ikimono-gakari, Ketsumeishi, Snow Man) directed the film. Director and former actress Hana Matsumoto (Kimi to Nara Koi o Shitemite mo) helmed the TV series with Smith. Ayako Kitagawa (Tokyo Love Story, Laid-Back Camp) wrote the scripts, and the band fox capture plan (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye) composed the music. Toei's Ryūsuke Imoto was the producer.

The live-action film of author Reiko Hiroshima and illustrator jyajya's children's novel series Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendō dropped from #4 to #8 in its second weekend. The film earned 75,067,000 yen (about US$477,000) from Friday to Sunday and has earned a total of 294,158,400 yen (about US$1.87 million).

The film opened on December 13 and sold 121,000 tickets and earned 156,918,800 yen (about US$1.02 million) in its first three days.

The film stars Yūki Amami (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler, Mary and The Witch's Flower) as the mysterious shop proprietor Beniko.

Hideo Nakata (Ring, Dark Water) directed the film, and Reiko Yoshida (K-ON!, Violet Evergarden, Liz and the Blue Bird, The Heike Story) penned the script. Masaru Yokoyama composed the music.

The novel series' story centers on the mysterious candy and snack shop Zenitendō, which only lucky people can find. The shop's proprietor is a woman named Beniko, and she can recommend the perfect candy for each person's troubles. However, things might not turn out as hoped if people eat or use the confections incorrectly. Whether Beniko's sweets bring fortune or misfortune is up to the people who receive them.

The novel series debuted in May 2013, and is ongoing. The franchise has more than 1.4 million copies in print. A stage play adaptation ran in Tokyo in August 2023. An ongoing anime series premiered in September 2020.

Attack on Titan The Movie: THE LAST ATTACK, a compilation of Attack on Titan Final Season THE FINAL CHAPTERS, dropped off the top 10 list in its seventh weekend, but it still earned 16,459,400 yen (about US$104,000) from Friday to Sunday, earning a total of 1,178,927,160 yen (about US$7.49 million).

The "complete version" of the Fafner: Heaven and Earth film opened at #5 in the mini-theater rankings.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2) (link 3), comScore via KOFIC