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My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising Film Opens at #3 in Japan, Earns 422 Million Yen in 3 Days

My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, the second film in the My Hero Academia franchise, ranked at #3 in its opening weekend from December 21-22. The film opened on Friday on 313 screens, and sold 224,000 tickets on Saturday-Sunday and earned 283 million yen (about US$2.59 million) on those two days. From Friday to Sunday the film earned 422,479,000 yen (about US$3.86 million). Eiga.com expects that the film could earn more than the first film, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, depending on how the film performs during the New Year's holiday. My Hero Academia: Two Heroes earned a total of 1.72 billion yen (about US$15.7 million) in Japan.

As with the previous My Hero Academia: Two Heroes film, Horikoshi had overall supervision of the film, and handled the original character designs. Kenji Nagasaki and Yousuke Kuroda returned from the series and the previous film as the director and scriptwriter, respectively. Yoshihiko Umakoshi returned to design the characters, and Yuuki Hayashi once again composed the music. BONES animated the film. Rock band sumika performed the theme song "Higher Ground."

Kamen Rider Reiwa: The First Generation opened on Saturday, and ranked at #4 for Saturday-Sunday. The film earned 248,578,270 yen (about US$2.27 million) over the weekend.

The live-action film of Rin Mikimoto's Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight (Gozen 0-ji, Kiss Shi ni Kite yo) manga stayed at #6 in its third weekend. The film earned 81,203,800 yen (about US$742,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 613,484,200 yen (about US$5.61 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 6 on 255 screens. Takehiko Shinjō directed the film, with a script by Haruka Ōkita. GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE's Ryota Katayose stars in the film as Kaede Ayasa, and Kanna Hashimoto stars as Hinana Hanazawa.

Kodansha Comics publishes the manga in English.

Eiga Yōkai Watch Jam: Yo-kai Gakuen Y - Neko wa Hero ni Nareru ka (Yo-kai Watch Jam the Movie: Yo-Kai Academy Y - Can a Cat be a Hero?), the sixth film in the Yōkai Watch franchise, fell from #4 to #7 in its second weekend at the box office. The film opened on December 13 on 347 screens. The film earned 75,947,550 yen (about US$694,000) from Saturday to Sunday, and has earned 224,349,950 yen (about US$2.05 million) total as of December 22.

The new film's story is set in Y-Academy, an elite school that only allows students with top class abilities to enter. The protagonist Jinpei Jiba and his unique friends take on the mysteries of the school as transforming heroes.

Yo-kai Gakuen Y: N to no Sōgū (Yo-Kai Academy Y: An Encounter With N), the new Yōkai Watch anime series, will continue the film's story in the same academy setting, and will premiere on December 27.

Lupin III THE FIRST, the new anime film in Monkey Punch's Lupin III franchise, dropped from #5 to #9 in its third weekend. The film earned 68,240,900 yen (about US$624,000) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 737,117,750 yen (about US$6.74 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 6 on 389 screens.

The film is the franchise's first 3D CG feature-length film. Takashi Yamazaki (Stand By Me Doraemon, Dragon Quest: Your Story) directed and wrote the film. The film's story centers on Lupin teaming up with a woman named Leticia to steal the Bresson Diary, a treasure that even the first generation Arsène Lupin could not steal.

Eiga Sumikko Gurashi: Tobidasu Ehon to Himitsu no Ko (Sumikko Gurashi The Movie - The Unexpected Picture Book and the Secret Child), the anime film of San-X's "Sumikko Gurashi" (Living in the Corner) characters, fell off the list in its seventh weekend.

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