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Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire Anime Film Earns Nearly 1.9 Billion Yen in 1st 3 Days
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Meitantei Conan: Konjō no Fist (Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire), the 23rd Detective Conan anime film, sold 1,458,263 tickets to earn 1,886,292,700 yen (about US$16.85 million) in its first three days from Friday through Sunday. The film also debuted at #1 at the Japanese box office for the weekend of April 13-14.
The opening weekend earnings surpassed last year's film, Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer. The film sold 1,289,000 tickets in its first three days in April 2018 to earn 1.67 billion yen (about US$15.6 million). The movie is the highest-earning film in the franchise. In Japan, the film has earned 9.18 billion yen (about US$82 million), and is the eighth highest-grossing anime film in Japan of all time, and the 46th highest-grossing film in Japan in general. As of November 16, the film had earned 11 billion yen worldwide.
Detective Conan: Fist of Blue Sapphire is set in Singapore, and is the first Detective Conan film set outside of Japan. Singapore's famous Marina Bay Sands is the site of a murder case in the film. The plot involves a large gem known as the "Blue Sapphire," which sank to the bottom of the ocean at the end of the 19th century. The film centers on Kaitō Kid, Makoto Kyōgoku, and Conan Edogawa. Makoto, an undefeated karate master with 400 wins, confronts Kid as Kid tries to steal the Blue Sapphire. Meanwhile, Kaitō Kid brings Conan to Singapore against his will.
Tomoka Nagaoka (assistant director on Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter) directed the film. Takahiro Ōkura (Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter) penned the script. Katsuo Ono returned to compose the music. Hiroomi Tosaka, the vocalist for Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, performed the film's theme song "Blue Sapphire."
Eiga Doraemon no Nobita no Getsumen Tansaki (Doraemon the Movie: Chronicle of the Moon Exploration), the Doraemon franchise's 39th film, fell to #2 in its seventh weekend, after topping the weekend chart for six consecutive weekends. The live-action film adaptation of Mineo Maya's Tonde Saitama (Fly Me to Saitama) manga fell from #3 to #5 in its eighth weekend, and Eiga Precure Miracle Universe, the newest movie in the Precure franchise, fell from #8 to #9 in its fifth weekend.
Sources: Cinema Today, Kōgyō Tsūshin
