Japan box office dominated by local features in first half of 2024

Local animated features led Japanese box office in the first half of 2024 as just two Hollywood titles broke the top 10.

Of the 20 highest-grossing films released so far this year, 15 were produced in Japan. Six out of the top 10 titles are anime features.

Dominating the first half of 2024 was Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram, the 27^th annual entry in a series of films about a high school detective who has been shrunk to child-like proportions. The film has earned $94.4m (¥15.19bn) – a record for the long-running franchise. By comparison, 2023’s top-grossing film, animation The First Slam Dunk, took $98.6m (¥15.87bn) over the course of its run after opening in December 2022.

The only other film to cross the ¥10bn threshold this year to date is Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, the latest in a long-running anime franchise about high school volleyball players based on the manga by Haruichi Furudate. The film has earned $69.3m (¥11.16bn) at the local box office.

In 2023, three films topped the ¥10bn: The First Slam Dunk, The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine.

Ranked third in 2024 to date is A Strange House (known in some regions as The Floor Plan) on $31.2m (¥5bn). Directed by Jun’ichi Ishikawa, the live-action mystery film is based on a multimedia franchise that includes YouTube videos, novels and manga.

A further notable performance in the top 10 is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training, a theatrical presentation of TV episodes that were released to promote an upcoming season of the anime series. It took $14.1m (¥2.27bn), which more than many features but 48% less than last year’s similar offering, which earned $27m (¥4.34bn) for Toho and Aniplex.

It was announced this week that the Demon Slayer saga will conclude with three theatrical films. The first film - Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train – took more than $250m (¥40.43bn) locally following its release in October 2020 and remains the highest grossing film of all time in Japan.

The highest-grossing non-Japanese film released in 2024 is Christoper Nolan’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, which has made $11.2m (¥1.8bn) since its release on March 29. The film was released eight months after other territories due to concerns about its content in Japan, where hundreds of thousands were killed by atomic bombs in 1945. The film was distributed by Bitters End, which was quoted as having engaged in “months of thoughtful dialogue” before release.

The only other non-Japanese film to crack the top 10 of films released in the first half of 2024 was Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which co-stars the titular Japanese monster. That film, distributed by Godzilla originator Toho, has earned $10.6m (¥1.71bn). By comparison, last year’s domestically produced Godzilla Minus One took more than $47m (¥7.59bn), while 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong earned $11.8m (¥1.9bn).

Significant upcoming Japanese releases include the latest entry in the popular Kingdom franchise (July 12), the fourth My Hero Academia anime film (August 2) and The Colors Within (August 30), the latest anime film from Naoko Yamada (A Silent Voice), which recently won the best animation award at the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Box office figures were sourced from film site PickScene. Official figures by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren) are released annually in January.

Japan box office (films released in 2024)

Japan box office 2024 (inc. December releases)

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