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Japanese Box Office, April 4-5

Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Uchū Kaitakushi (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's How Space Was Won, New Edition), the second anime film remake of a classic 1980-1981 Doraemon manga story that sends the title robot cat to space, rises from #2 to #1 on Kogyo Tsushinsha's Japanese box office chart during the April 4-5 weekend. According to Box Office Mojo, it was only #3 with the equivalent of US$1,531,894 on 364 screens in its fifth weekend. It now has a gross-to-date of US$22,003,512.

Takashi Miike's live-action adaptation of the Yatterman science-fiction comedy anime dropped to #2 for the first time in its fifth weekend, but still added US$1,537,653 to its total of US$27,340,369 on 310 screens.

Drop, comedian Hiroshi Shinagawa's live-action adaptation of his own coming-of-age novel, stayed at #3 in its third weekend on Kogyo Tsushinsha's chart. However, it moved to #1 on Box Office Mojo's chart by taking in US$1,669,521 on 165 screens for a total of US$11,819,186. The film retells a loosely autobiographical story of how a boy was inspired by the Be-Bop-Highschool fighting manga to join a delinquent gang.

Toei Animation's Precure All Stars DX: Minna Tomodachi—Kiseki no Zenin Daishūgō film rose from #7 to #5 in its third weekend. It earned US$898,950 on 156 screens for a gross-to-date of US$7,734,968. This film marks the fifth anniversary of the Precure magical girl franchise.

Catherine Hardwicke's live-action film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight vampire novel opened in Japan at #10 with US$689,676.

Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha

Image © Fujiko Pro, Shogakukan, TV Asahi, Shinei, ADK 2009