News
Gundam GQuuuuuuX Surpasses Hathaway as Franchise's #3 All-Time Film in Japan
posted on by Adriana Hazra
The film has now surpassed the total all-time Japanese earnings of Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway, which earned 2,209,628,200 yen (about US$14.29 million in current conversion) at the Japanese box office. This makes the Gundam GQuuuuuuX film the third highest-earning film in the Gundam franchise in Japan, with Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM holding the all-time high of 4,796,455,740 yen (about US$31.05 million) as of its final weekend in May 2024. If Gundam Seed FREEDOM's special edition screenings later in 2024 are included, the film has earned a cumulative total of 5,301,101,120 yen (about US$34 million). The 1982 Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space anime film ranks #2 with 2.3 billion yen (about US$14.88 million in current conversion) earnings.
The Gundam GQuuuuuuX film debuted at #1 at the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. It sold 352,500 tickets and earned 598,832,300 yen (about US$3.83 million) in its first three days. The film opened in Japan on January 17. Immersive MX4D and 4DX screenings will start on February 22.
The story of Gundam GQuuuuuuX, a re-edited version of the first four episodes of the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX (pronounced as “g-kwux”) television anime, centers on Amate Yuzuriha, a high-school student living peacefully in a space colony floating in outer space. When she meets a war refugee named Nyaan, Amate is drawn into the illegal mobile suit dueling sport known as Clan Battle. Under the entry name "Machu," she throws herself into fierce battle day after day, piloting the GQuuuuuuX. Then an unidentified Gundam mobile suit pursued by both the space force and the police appears before her, along with its pilot, a boy named Shūji.
Kazuya Tsurumaki (FLCL, Gunbuster 2: Diebuster) is directing the anime, and Yōji Enokido (Bungo Stray Dogs, Sailor Moon Super S, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Ouran High School Host Club) is supervising the series scripts and writing the scripts with Hideaki Anno (Evangelion, Shin Godzilla). Illustrator Take (Katanagatari, Zaregoto, Pokémon Sun & Moon) is designing the characters, and Ikuto Yamashita (Evangelion, Shin Kamen Rider, Yukikaze) is the mechanical designer.
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.
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%."
The film opened in theaters in Japan on January 24. The film ranked at #3 in its opening weekend. The film sold 160,000 tickets and earned 225,933,800 yen (about US$1.46 million) in its first three days.
Kento Yamazaki (live-action Alice in Borderland, Kingdom, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K., Orange, Hyouka, Your Lie in April) plays the protagonist Kurō Kumogakure, and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla Minus One, Shin Kamen Rider, live-action Kakegurui, Saki, The Promised Neverland) plays the heroine Ayaka Noguchi. Yūichi Fukuda (live-action Gintama, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku, Saint Young Men, The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. films) wrote and directed the film. Creepy Nuts performs the theme song "doppelgänger."
The film debuted at #2 and sold 232,500 tickets and earned 306,817,000 yen (about US$1.96 million) in its first three days.
Colorful Palette, a subsidiary of Craft Egg, and Sega collaborated on the film, which is getting a global release.
The original story follows Ichika Hoshino, who hears a Miku song that she has never heard before at a CD shop and sees a Hatsune Miku whom she had never seen before. Ichika calls out to Miku, who surprised by the voice, disappears shortly after making eye contact. Miku later appears on Ichika's smartphone to tell her that she would like to reach others with her songs, but no matter how much she sings, her songs cannot reach them. After seeing Ichika reach others' hearts with her live street performance, Miku asks for her help.
Saki Fujita reprises her role as Hatsune Miku from other works in the franchise. Ruriko Noguchi stars as Ichika Hoshino. The cast also includes returning members from the franchise.
Hiroyuki Hata (Lapis Re:LiGHTs) directed the anime at P.A. Works. Yoko Yonaiyama (Ya Boy Kongming!) wrote the screenplay. Yuki Akiyama (IRODUKU: The World in Colors) designed the characters and was a chief animation director, along with Masatoshi Tsuji (chief animation director for Summer Time Rendering), who was also a sub-character designer. Satoshi Hōno (Aggretsuko) composed the music.
The live-action film of Toutarou Minami's Suicide Notes Laid on the Table (Isho, Kōkai.) manga dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend.
The new anime film of Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles manga also fell off the top 10 in its second weekend at the Japanese box office.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC
