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My Hero Academia The Movie: World Heroes' Mission Film Falls to #3 at Japanese Box Office
posted on by Adriana Hazra & Rafael Antonio Pineda
Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's new BELLE (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess") anime film rose from #3 to #2 in its fifth weekend, after topping the chart for its first three weekends. The film earned 241,777,450 yen (about US$2.21 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 4,740,817,150 yen (about US$43.39 million).
BELLE opened in Japan on July 16. The film has IMAX screenings in 38 theaters throughout Japan. This makes BELLE the first of Hosoda's films to have IMAX screenings. GKIDS licensed the film for North America, and will release the film in English and in Japanese with English subtitles this winter.
Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars,The Boy and The Beast, Mirai) directed and scripted the film, and is also credited for the original work. The film marks Studio Chizu's 10th anniversary. Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan, The Naked Director) is the film's music director and composer.
My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: World Heroes' Mission, the third anime film in the My Hero Academia franchise, dropped from #2 to #3 in Japan in its second weekend. The film earned 220,691,500 yen (about US$2.02 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,673,616,100 yen (about US$15.32 million). The film has sold 1.28 million tickets.
The film opened on August 6, and sold about 720,000 tickets to earn about 940 million yen (about US$8.51 million) in its opening weekend.
In the story of My Hero Academia THE MOVIE: World Heroes' Mission, a mysterious organization dedicated to the destruction of people with Quirks has issued a threat and set bombs all over the world. Pro Heroes and those in Hero Internships scramble to find the bombs. Deku, Bakugo, and Todoroki encounter Rody, a boy living in a mobile home in their designated area of Oseon, and end up working with him.
Original manga creator Kōhei Horikoshi again served as chief supervisor and original character designer. Kenji Nagasaki returned from the television series and two previous films in the franchise to direct the new film at BONES. Other returning staff members include scriptwriter Yousuke Kuroda, character designer Yoshihiko Umakoshi, and composer Yuki Hayashi. Asian Kung-Fu Generation performed the film's theme song "Empathy" and the film's insert song "Flowers."
Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Nazo Meki! Hana no Tenkasu Gakuen (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie - Shrouded in Mystery! The Flowers of Tenkazu Academy), the 29th film in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise, stayed #4 in its third weekend. The film earned 124,974,150 yen (about US$1.14 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,171,715,250 yen (about US$10.72 million).
The film was originally slated to open in Japan on April 23, but was delayed due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic before opening on on July 30. The film earned 144,722,100 yen (about US$1.31 million) on Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 705,022,800 yen (about US$6.37 million).
The film's story begins with Shinnosuke and friends experiencing a one-week stay as part of the "defense force" of Tenkatōitsu Kasukabe Private Academy (nicknamed "Tenkasu"), an elite boarding school that is administrated by a state-of-the-art AI. But when Kazama is attacked, with his intelligence reduced, and strange bite marks left on his butt, the mood begins to change. The Kasukabe defense force joins forces with the school's dropout student council president Chishio Atsuki to form a group of detectives and shed some light on the mystery.
Wataru Takahashi returned from many previous Crayon Shin-chan films as the director, with Kimiko Ueno also returning from 2019's Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shinkon Ryokō Hurricane and previous films as the scriptwriter. Macaroni Enpitsu performed the film's theme song "Hashirigaki" (Scribbling).
The live-action film of Ken Wakui's Tokyo Revengers manga stayed at #5 in its sixth weekend. The film earned 127,711,780 yen (about US$1.16 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 3,598,603,260 yen (about US$32.94 million). The film has sold over 2.7 million tickets so far.
The film was slated to open in Japan last October, but was delayed to 2021 due to the effects of the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Japan. The production halted filming in April 2020 due to COVID-19. The film opened on July 9. Tsutomu Hanabusa (live-action Kakegurui, Miseinen dakedo Kodomo ja Nai) directed the film. Rock band SUPER BEAVER performed the film's theme song "Namae o Yobu yo" (I'll Call your name.).
Wakui launched the manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in March 2017. Kodansha Comics is publishing the manga digitally in English. The manga is also inspiring a television anime that premiered on April 10.
The Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity - Grand Temple of Time: Solomon film fell off the top 10 in its third weekend, but still earned 22,120,000 yen (about US$202,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 358,245,277 yen (about US$3.27 million). The live-action film of Mayu Murata's Honey Lemon Soda manga is also still off the top 10 in its sixth weekend, but still earned 15,911,060 yen (about US$145,600) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 925,102,720 yen (about US$8.46 million).
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), Eiga.com, comScore via KOFIC