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3rd Chihayafuru Film Opens at #3, Doraemon Stays at #1

Chihayafuru: Musubi (Chihayafuru: Conclusion), the third live-action film of Yuki Suetsugu's Chihayafuru manga, sold 210,000 tickets for 257 million yen (about US$2.42 million) to rank #3 at the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. It earned 18.8% more than the previous Chihayafuru: Shimo no Ku film, which eventually earned 1.22 billion yen (about US$11.4 million). The new film opened on Saturday in 306 theaters.

The film takes place two years after the first two films, and depicts Chihaya, Taichi, and Arata in their third year of high school.

Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island), the Doraemon franchise's 38th film, sold 388,000 tickets for 459,586,200 yen (about US$4.33 million) over the weekend, and once again topped the Japanese box office in its third weekend. The film has now sold a cumulative total of 1.99 million tickets, and earned a cumulative total of 2,344,025,400 yen (about US$21 million). The film sold 717,000 tickets for 843,148,500 yen (about US$8 million) at #1 in its opening weekend. The film earned 22% more than the first weekend of Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Nankyoku Kachi Kochi Daibōken, the previous year's film, which is the highest-earning film in the franchise with around a US$42 million gross, and was the second highest-grossing domestic film in Japan last year.

The latest Doraemon film is inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island novel. In the film's story, Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo set out on an adventure in the Caribbean Sea. Nobita is the captain of a ship and fights his enemies on board. Shizuka gets kidnapped, and a storm impedes their journey. Mini-Dora robots help Nobita and friends on their journey. When the adventurers finally find the mysterious Treasure Island, they discover it is more than just an ordinary island.

The Precure Super Stars! anime film sold 202,750 tickets for 226,236,600 yen (about US$2.13 million) to rank #4 in the box office on its opening weekend. It earned 43.5% more than last year's Eiga Precure Dream Stars! film, which eventually earned 700 million yen (about US$6.6 million). The latest film also has the highest-earning opening weekend for Precure films in eight years, since the 2010 Precure All Stars DX2: Kibō no Hikari—Rainbow Jewel o Mamore! film. The new film opened in Japan on Saturday in 213 theaters.

The film centers on the characters of the new Hugtto! Precure television anime series, and also features characters from Kirakira ☆ Precure a la Mode as well as Maho Girls Precure!. The film is part of the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Precure franchise.

The live-action film of Yuki Kodama's Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) manga fell off the top 10 in its second weekend. The film earned 38,271,000 yen (about US$360,800) from Friday to Sunday in its second weekend, and has earned a cumulative total of 201,009,100 yen (about US$1.89 million). The Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple anime film also dropped off in its third weekend. It earned 32,025,100 yen (about US$301,600) from Friday to Sunday in its third weekend, and has earned a cumulative total of 291,365,708 yen (about US$2.74 million). Gekijōban Ultraman Geed - Tsunagu ze! Negai!! (Ultraman Geed the Movie - Connect the Wishes!!) dropped off in its second weekend.

Sources: Eiga.com, Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC