News
Japanese Box Office, October 25-26
posted on by Egan Loo
The manga-based Tsuri Baka Nisshi 19: Yokoso! Suzuki Kensetsu Go-Ikkō-sama comedy film opened at #4 at the Japanese box office during the October 25-26 weekend. Juzo Yamasaki's Tsuri Baka Nisshi ("Diary of a Fishing Fool") manga, a venerable institution among salaryman readers, inspired this live-action film spinoff. Ichi, the female re-imagining of the popular blind swordsman character Zatoichi from director Fumihiko Sori (Vexille, Ping Pong), opened at #6. 78,969 people spent 104.06 million yen (about US$1.05 million) to see the film on 250 screens.
Gekijōban Saraba Kamen Rider Den-O Final Countdown, the third movie based on live-action special-effects series Kamen Rider Den-O, dropped from #5 to #8 in Japan during its fourth weekend. Paco and the Magical Book, the surreal live-action fantasy film that reunites director Tetsuya Nakashima, actress Anna Tsuchiya, and other key players from the Kamikaze Girls film, also fell from #6 to #10 in its seventh weekend. As of October 24, it surpassed the 2-billion-yen (US$20-million) mark.
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (pictured at right), Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film in nearly four years, dropped from #8 off the Top 10 chart in its 15th weekend. As of October 13, 12,392,477 people spent 14,915,738,215 yen (US$151 million) to see it. Tomoyuki Takimoto's live-action version of Motorō Mase's Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit suspense manga also fell from #9 off the chart in its fifth weekend.
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Sankei Shimbun, Variety, animeanime.jp
Image © 2008 Nibariki, GNDHDDT
follow-up of Japanese Box Office, October 18-19: Ponyo Rises to #8
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