27th Detective Conan Film Stays at #1, Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Road to the Top Opens at #6
The Detective Conan: Hyakuman Doru no Michishirube (Case Closed: The Million-dollar Pentagram) film stayed at #1 in its fifth weekend. The film sold 362,000 tickets and earned 534,319,890 yen (about US$3.41 million) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 8.98 million tickets and earned a cumulative total of 12,876,291,970 yen (about US$82.26 million).
The film is the second film in the franchise to have earned 10 billion yen, but Case Closed: The Million-dollar Pentagram earned it two days faster than Detective Conan: Kurogane no Submarine did. Detective Conan is now the first Japanese-animated film franchise to have two consecutive films pass 10 billion yen in earnings in Japan.
The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend, selling 2,274,333 tickets and earning 3,352,494,500 (about US$21.7 million) yen in its first three days. The new film has exceeded the opening weekend of Detective Conan: Kurogane no Submarine (Iron Submarine), the 26th film that opened last year, making it the new best three-day opening for the franchise. The new film also has the biggest opening weekend for a film so far this year in Japan, beating HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle, which sold 1,529,000 tickets and earned 2,230,465,540 yen (about US$14.83 million) in its first three days.
Case Closed: The Million-dollar Pentagram is the 27th film in the Detective Conan franchise, and it is the first to have midnight screenings. The film premiered in Japan on April 12. The film is screening in 515 cinemas across Japan, the largest number of theater screenings in the history of the Detective Conan film series, and also has screenings in IMAX in 50 theaters, MX4D in 14 theaters, 4DX in 64 theaters, and Dolby Cinema in eight theaters.
AIKO performs the film’s theme song “Sōshi Sōai” (Mutual Love).
The anime film of Kōta Sannomiya‘s BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi- spinoff of Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yūsuke Nomura‘s Blue Lock soccer manga rose from #4 to #3 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 123,623,370 yen (about US$789,800) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 1.07 million tickets, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,461,787,040 yen (about US$9.33 million).
The film sold 337,000 tickets to earn 463 million yen (about US$2.99 million) in its first three days, and ranked at #2 in the Japanese box office in its opening weekend.
The BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi- film opened in Japan on April 19. The film has four mini-anime titled “BLUELOCK Additional Time!” after the credits for the first four weeks of the film’s screening. The mini-anime episode shown changes each week. The film is also screening in IMAX, MX4D, and 4DX. Crunchyroll will screen the film in theaters in North America on June 28 in both English subtitles and an English dub.
The Godzilla vs. Kong film sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire dropped from #2 to #4 in the box office in its third weekend. The film earned 99,187,350 yen (about US$633,700) from Friday to Sunday. The film has sold a total of 970,000 tickets and earned a cumulative total of 1,442,355,650 yen (about US$9.21 million).
The film debuted at #2 in the Japanese box office. The film sold 306,000 tickets and earned 466,704,060 yen (about US$3.05 million) in its first three days, and had sold 417,000 tickets and earned a cumulative total of 622 million yen (about US$4.06 million) in its first four days (the film opened on a long weekend).
The film opened in Japan on April 26.
The film opened in the United States on March 29, two weeks earlier than its previously planned April 12 date. The April 12 release was itself a delay from its original March 15 opening.
The film earned approximately US$8 million during its preview screenings on March 28 in roughly 3,400 locations in the U.S. The earnings mark the second-best previews for a “Monsterverse” movie, as 2014’s Godzilla earned US$9.3 million in preview screenings.
The film earned US$80 million in its opening weekend in the U.S., topping the box office for the weekend.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Road to the Top, a compilation film of the Uma Musume Pretty Derby net anime with new scenes, opened on Friday and ranked at #6 in its first weekend. The film earned 69,533,700 yen (about US$444,300) in its first three days.
The net anime is separate from the third television anime season, which premiered in 2023. The net anime depicts T.M. Opera O, Admire Vega, Narita Top Road, and other Uma Musume (Horse Girls) going head-to-head to win Classic competitions.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era, a new anime film in the franchise, will open in theaters in Japan on May 24. The film follows Jungle Pocket, who wishes to participate in the Triple Crown Classic race, which can only be run once in a lifetime. She faces rivals Agnes Tachyon and Manhattan Cafe.
The live-action film adaptation of Uketsu‘s Hen na Ie (The Strange House) novel dropped from #5 to #8 in its ninth weekend. The film earned 60,958,390 yen (about US$389,500) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 4,807,814,070 yen (about US$30.72 million).
The film opened on March 15. The film sold 344,000 tickets and earned 474 million yen (about US$3.13 million) in its first three days.
The film stars Shōtarō Mamiya (live-action Blue Giant, Tokyo Revengers) as Amamiya, Jirō Satō (live-action Gintama) as Kurihara, and Rina Kawaei (live-action Ajin) as Yūki.
Asukashinsha published the first novel in July 2021, and the second novel on December 15. The novel tells the mystery of a house with a room that had no doors, no windows, and is tucked away, making it look like it was just a wall. But the house holds some very dark secrets.
Kyō Ayano launched the novel’s manga adaptation on Ichijinsha‘s comic HOWL web manga service in January 2023. Seven Seas licensed the manga under the title The Strange House.
HAIKYU!! The Dumpster Battle (Gekijōban Haikyu!! Gomi Suteba no Kessen), the first film in the two-part Haikyu!! Final sequel film project, dropped from #3 to #9 in its 13th weekend. The film earned 64,417,090 yen (about US$411,600) over the weekend, and has earned a cumulative total of 10,439,236,500 yen (about US$66.71 million).
The film premiered in Japan on February 16 and is also screening in IMAX. Susumu Mitsunaka (first, third Haikyu!! television anime) both directed and wrote the script for the film.
The film sold 1,529,000 tickets and earned 2,230,465,540 yen (about US$14.83 million) in its first three days of screening.
The anime film of Kazumi Takayama‘s trapezium novel opened on Friday and ranked at #10 in its debut weekend.
Asaki Yuikawa plays the protagonist Yū Higashi in the film. Hina Yomiya voices the character of Kurumi Taiga the “Western Star.” Reina Ueda voices the “Southern Star” Ranko Katori. Haruka Aikawa voices Mika Kamei, the “Northern Star” and one of Yū Higashi’s old schoolmates from grade school. The film also cast idol group JO1 member Shōya Kimata as Shinji Kudō and Teruyoshi Uchimura of the comedy duo Utchan Nanchan as Shūichi Itami.
Masahiro Shinohara (episode director for Blend S, Is the order a rabbit?) directed the film at CloverWorks, and Koji Masunari (storyboard for Oshi no Ko, TONIKAWA: Over The Moon For You) supervised the film. Yuuko Kakihara (The Apothecary Diaries, Buddy Daddies) wrote the script, Rio (Sorcerous Stabber Orphen -Chaos in Urbanrama-) designed the characters, and Masaru Yokoyama (Farewell, My Dear Cramer: The Movie, Fruits Basket -prelude-, Horimiya) composed the music. Aniplex is distributing the film.
The first part of the four-part Code Geass: Rozé of the Recapture (originally titled Gode Geass: Z of the Recapture, or Dakkan no Zetto) anime project opened outside of the top 10 last week. The anime earned 65,267,920 yen (about US$417,200) in its first three days. The first part of the anime opened in Japan last Friday, May 10.
The Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM anime is still out of the top 10 in its 15th weekend. The film has sold a total of 2,776,658 tickets and earned a total of 4,643,824,710 yen (about US$29.68 million).
The Onmyoji 0 live-action film, a prequel to the 2001 Onmyoji film based on Baku Yumemakura‘s novel series of the same name, dropped off the top 10 at the Japanese box office in its fourth weekend.
The 2024 Doraemon film Eiga Doraemon: Nobita no Chikyū Symphony (Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Earth Symphony) dropped off the top 10 in its 11th weekend.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), comScore via KOFIC