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Live-Action Cells at Work! Film Stays at #1 on December 27-29 Weekend

The live-action film of Akane Shimizu's Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibō!!) manga stayed at #1 in the Japanese box office in its third weekend. The film sold 427,000 tickets from Friday through Sunday earning 580,823,790 yen (about US$3.68 million). It has sold a total of 2.02 million tickets, and earned a cumulative total of 2,737,450,780 yen (about US$17.34 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 13 and ranked at #1. The film sold a total of 612,000 tickets and earned a total of 844,768,310 yen (about US$5.49 million) in its first three days.

The film has 4D (4DX and MX4D) and IMAX screenings in Japan.

Hideki Takeuchi (live-action Nodame Cantabile, Thermae Romae, Fly Me to Saitama) directed the film, with a script by Yūichi Tokunaga (live-action Kaguya-sama: Love is War, Liar x Liar, Princess Jellyfish). Warner Bros. Japan distributed the film. Official HiGE DANdism performed the theme song "50%."

Gekijо̄-ban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyо̄ no Gunshi (Nintama Rantarō the Movie: The Dokutake Ninja Team's Strongest Strategist), the first anime film in the Nintama Rantarō anime franchise in 13 years, stayed at #4 in its second weekend. The film earned 197,462,140 yen (about US$1.25 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 634,742,490 yen (about US$4.02 million).

The film opened in Japan on December 20. It sold 198,000 tickets in its first weekend, including advanced screenings, earning 295 million yen (about US$1.87 million) from Thursday through Sunday.

The movie is based on Kazuhisa Sakaguchi's 2013 novel of the same name, which centers on Rantaro's teacher Hansuke Doi losing a battle against Sonnamon and Zatto Konnamon becoming a teacher at Ninjutsu Academy.

Yasuhiro Mamiya voices Happōsai Hieta, replacing the late Shōzō Iizuka, who voiced the character in the anime series. In addition, Naniwa Danshi members Ryūsei Ōnishi and Jōichirō Fujiwara appear in the film as guest voice actors.

Masaya Fujimori (Doraemon movies) returned from the previous film to direct the new one at Ajia-do, the same animation studio for the television series. Original novel writer Sakaguchi wrote the screenplay.

Saint Oniisan The Movie ~Holy Men vs Akuma Gundan~ (Holy Men vs Demon Army), the first live-action film of Hikaru Nakamura's Saint Young Men (Saint Oniisan) manga, stayed at #6 in its second weekend. The film earned 120,331,800 yen (about US$762,700) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 424,922,100 yen (about US$2.69 million).

TOHO opened the film on December 20. It debuted at #6 at the box office.

The comedy manga imagines if Buddha and Jesus shared a low-rent Tokyo apartment with no bathroom.

The returning cast and staff from the manga's previous live-action series adaptations include Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Promare's Galo Thymos) as Jesus and Shōta Sometani (BELLE's Kamishin, Suzume's Minoru Okabe) as Buddha. Yūichi Fukuda (live-action Gintama, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. films) is returning to direct the film and pen the script based on an extended story ("Screen e no Nagai Michi" or The Long Road to the Big Screen) that Nakamura created for the film.

The film finale of the live-action series adaptation of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari's Oshi no Ko manga dropped from #7 to #8 in its second weekend. The film earned 73,741,780 yen (about US$467,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 286,755,000 yen (about US$1.81 million).

The live-action Oshi no Ko series debuted on Amazon Prime worldwide on November 28 with eight episodes, and the sequel film then premiered after the series in theaters on December 20.

The filmmaker known by the mononym Smith (Inside Mari, I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die, music videos for Ikimono-gakari, Ketsumeishi, Snow Man) directed the film. Director and former actress Hana Matsumoto (Kimi to Nara Koi o Shitemite mo) helmed the TV series with Smith. Ayako Kitagawa (Tokyo Love Story, Laid-Back Camp) wrote the scripts, and the band fox capture plan (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye) composed the music. Toei's Ryūsuke Imoto was the producer.

The live-action Sonic the Hedgehog 3 film ranked at #9 in its opening weekend in Japan. The film earned 69,510,290 yen (about US$440,900) in its first three days. The film opened in Japan on December 27.

The film earned US$60,102,146 in its opening weekend and topped the U.S. box office. The film earned US$25,449,555 in its opening day on December 20. Entertainment news website Variety reported that the film earned over US$100 million in North America in its first eight days of release. The film's gross domestic earning is now at US$137,552,146, and its gross worldwide earning is at US$211,552,146.

Keanu Reeves joins the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as Shadow the Hedgehog.

Jim Carrey reprises his role as Dr. Robotnik for the third film.

Krysten Ritter, Alyla Browne, James Wolk, Sofia Pernas, Cristo Fernández, and Jorma Taccone join the cast on the new film. Returning cast members also include Ben Schwartz, Lee Majdoub, Idris Elba, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Tom Butler, James Marsden, and Tika Sumpter.

The live-action film of author Reiko Hiroshima and illustrator jyajya's children's novel series Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendō dropped off the top 10 in its third weekend.

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