News

Shin Godzilla Is Highest-Earning Domestic Live-Action Japanese Film Since 2013

Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Shin Godzilla film has earned a total of 8,001,673,200 yen (about US$73.15 million) and sold 5,513,652 tickets as of Wednesday, after 111 days in the Japanese box office. The film is the highest-earning domestic live-action film made since 2013's The Eternal Zero, which earned 8.76 billion yen (about US$84.5 million at the time).

The film opened in Japan on July 29. Shin Godzilla represents the latest in TOHO's film series after a 12-year absence since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. The film has surpassed the earnings and ticket sales of director Anno's previous film, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. Co-directing with the Evangelion creator was Higuchi, Anno's frequent collaborator and the director of the live-action Attack on Titan films.

Funimation screened the film in theaters in North America, and it describes the film:

It's a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different… something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the government scrambles to save the citizens, a rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side—the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

Funimation hosted two premieres for the film in Los Angeles on October 3 and in New York on October 5. The film began a wider screening run from October 11 to October 18 in over 440 theaters in the United States. Funimation then extended the North American screenings, with matinee and some daily screenings in over 200 theaters in Canada and the United States until October 27.

Source: Oricon Style via Otakomu