News

Japanese Box Office, March 22-23

Eiga Doraemon: Shin Nobita no Daimakyō - Peko to 5-nin no Tankentai (Doraemon the Movie: New Nobita's Great Demon ~Peko and the Exploration Party of Five~ stayed at #2 in its third weekend. The film remakes the 1982 film Doraemon: Nobita's Great Demon, which was written by original Doraemon co-creator Fujiko F. Fujio, and follows the heroes of the Doraemon television series as they go on an adventure to help a dog prince return to his kingdom, deep within an unexplored land. The film also ranked #2 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 280,321,381 yen (US$2,706,503) on 361 screens for a new total of 1,738,868,611 yen (US$16,806,165).

Eiga Precure All Stars New Stage 3: Eien no Tomodachi fell from #3 to #4 in its second weekend. In the story, the world of dreams is threatened, so nine teams of Precure girls from the franchise's different television anime series unite to defend everyone's dreams. The characters from the newest series, HappinessCharge PreCure!, feature prominently. The film also ranked #3 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 107,213,958 yen (US$1,035,151) on 210 screens for a new total of 449,798,462 yen (US$4,342,804).

The live-action film adaptation of Hiromu Arakawa's Silver Spoon manga rose from #7 to #6 in its third weekend. Kento Nakajima stars as Yūgo Hachiken, a city boy who enters an agricultural high school. Many of Hachiken's classmates are from farming families, but Hachiken is not used to farm life. Alice Hirose co-stars as Hachiken's classmate Aki Mikage. The film also ranked #7 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 56,086,581 yen (US$541,516) on 285 screens for a new total of 492,219,455 yen (US$4,757,301).

Takashi Miike's live-action film adaptation of Noboru Takahashi's Mogura no Uta manga series, Mogura no Uta: Senyū Sōsakan Reiji (The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji), fell from #6 to #10 in its sixth weekend. In the story of the original manga, Reiji Kikukawa is known as a troublesome member of the police force due to his tendency to enforce justice through his own morals. He goes undercover to infiltrate a gangster syndicate. The film ranked #9 on Box Office Mojo's chart and earned 49,483,373 yen (US$477,762) on 293 screens for a new total of 1,995,046,855 yen (US$19,282,128).

The live-action film of Eiko Kadono's fantasy novel series Kiki's Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyūbin) ranked #14 on Box Office Mojo's chart in its fourth weekend and earned 22,672,703 yen (US$219,131) on 282 screens for a new total of 420,046,819 yen (US$4,059,753). The film stars Fūka Koshiba as Kiki, Ryōhei Hirota as Tombo, and Minako Kotobuki as Jiji in the coming of age story that Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli also adapted into an animated film.

Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Box Office Mojo