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Hosoda's The Boy and the Beast Film Earns Just Under 500 Million Yen in 2nd Weekend

Mamoru Hosoda's The Boy and The Beast film ranked at the #2 spot at the Japanese box office for the July 18-19 weekend, down from its #1 spot in its July 11-12 opening weekend. The film earned just under 500 million yen (about US$4.03 million) and sold around 350,000 tickets during the weekend. As of July 20, the film has earned more than 1.8 billion yen (about US$14.5 million), with a current total of 1.4 million tickets sold.

In addition, the Nippon TV channel aired Hosoda's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time anime film in its Kinyō Road Show programming block on July 17, which earned a 13.4% rating.

The story of The Boy and The Beast is set in the human realm (Tokyo's Shibuya ward) and the bakemono realm ("Jūtengai"). In these two worlds that must not intersect, there lives a lonely boy and a lonely bakemono. One day, the boy gets lost in the bakemono world, becomes the disciple of the bakemono Kumatetsu, and is renamed Kyūta.

Hosoda (Summer Wars, Wolf Children) created and scripted the movie. The film is Hosoda's first film since 2012, when his relatively new animation movie company Studio Chizu released Wolf Children as its first project. Masakatsu Takagi (Wolf Children) is scoring the soundtrack. Funimation licensed the American rights to the film, and plans to release the film in select theaters later this year and nationwide in early 2016. Theatrical screenings have also been set for France, and the major French movie studio Gaumont will handle international sales outside Asia. Funimation is working with Gaumont International to release the film.

The 18th Pokémon anime film, Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (Pokémon the Movie XY: Ring no Chōmajin Hoopa), debuted at #3 in the July 18-19 weekend, topping the Japanese debut of Disney and Pixar's Inside Out (titled Inside Head in Japan). Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages opened on 364 screens, and earned 384,115,100 yen (about US$3.09 million) in its first two days. The film sold 351,592 tickets over the weekend.

The 2014 Pokémon film, Pokémon the Movie: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (Pokémon the Movie XY: Hakai no Mayu to Diancie), debuted at #1 in its opening weekend, earning 393,181,683 yen (at that time about US$3.86 million) on 357 screens.

Pokémon the Movie: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages features the main cast of Pocket Monsters XY, Legendary Pokémon from past generations, and movie original characters. The Pokémon Company describes the film's story:

The 70-minute animated movie takes Ash, Pikachu, and their friends to a desert city by the sea. Here they meet the Mythical Pokémon Hoopa, which has the ability to summon things—including people and Pokémon—through its magic rings.

After a scary incident, they learn of a story about a brave hero who stopped the rampage of a terrifying Pokémon long ago. Now, the threat that has been bottled up for years is in danger of breaking loose again! Can Ash help his new friend overcome the darkness within…or will a dangerous secret erupt into a clash of legends?

Sources: Eiga.com, Movie Walker