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Doraemon Film, My Neighbor Totoro Make Top 10 Animated Films at Chinese Box Office in 2018

Chinese entertainment group Chinese Box Office (CBO) reported the top-grossing animated films in China for 2018. Japanese films Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita's Treasure Island) and My Neighbor Totoro ranked in the top ten. (My Neighbor Totoro screened for the film's 30th anniversary.)

The overall top eleven animated films were:

1. Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink (China): 605 million yuan
2. Incredibles 2 (U.S.): 354 million yuan
3. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (U.S.): 351 million yuan
4. Ralph Breaks the Internet (U.S.): 271 million yuan
5. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (U.S.): 222 million yuan
6. Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima (Japan): 209 million yuan
7. Ferdinand (U.S.): 172 million yuan
8. Peter Rabbit (U.S.): 168 million yuan
9. My Neighbor Totoro (Japan): 159 million yuan
10. New Happy Dad and Son 3: Adventure in Russia (China): 158 million yuan
11. Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer (Japan): 127 million yuan

Since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opened near the end of the year and is still in theaters, the film is on track to surpass the box office takings of Incredibles 2.

While China's Boonie Bears ranked at #1, many of China's other domestic animated movies performed relatively poorly at the box office. Of the 44 domestic animated films that opened, 27 earned less than 10 million yuan (about US$1.46 million). Films not aiming at the kids and family market, such as The Wind Guardians (112 million yuan) and Crystal Sky Of Yesterday (83 million yuan), may have performed better for not having to face competition from foreign films in the same market.

The top ten Japanese films in China for 2018 were:

1. Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Takarajima: 209 million yuan
2. My Neighbor Totoro: 159 million yuan
3. Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer: 127 million yuan
4. Shoplifters: 96 million yuan
5. Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari: 48 million yuan
6. The Miracles of the Namiya General Store: 28 million yen
7. Mary and The Witch's Flower: 20 million yuan
8. Mixed Doubles: 18 million yuan
9. Hirugao: 14 million yuan
10. The Survival Family: 11 million yuan

Of the top 10 Japanese films, four are animated (Doraemon, My Neighbor Totoro, Detective Conan, and Mary and The Witch's Flower). Destiny - Kamakura Monogatari is a live-action film based on Ryohei Saigan's Kamakura Monogatari manga.

Source: Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo, link 2)