Image courtesy of Kadokawa
© Kadokawa 刊/劇場版「オーバーロード」聖王国編製作委員会
Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, an anime film project, ranked #2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 198,000 tickets and earned 317,859,004 yen (about $2.19 million). The film opened in Japan on September 20, but also had IMAX screenings starting a week earlier on September 13. Including the earlier IMAX screenings, the film sold a total of 270,000 tickets and earned a total of 457,000 yen (about $3.15 million).
Naoyuki Itou returns to direct the film at Madhouse, and is also credited as scriptwriter and composer. Yukie SUGAwara returns to the film and is credited as a co-writer. Satoshi Tasaki also returns as character designer and chief animation director. Fumiyuki Go returns as sound director at Bit Grooove Promotion. Team-MAX's Shūji Katayama returns to compose the music at Kadokawa. Kadokawa Animation is distributing the film.
Crunchyroll will stream the film in North America on November 8, and will also stream it in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
© ABC-A・東映アニメーション
The Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Doki Doki Game no Sekai de Daiboken (Wonderful Precure! The Movie! Grand Adventure in a Thrilling Game World) dropped from #2 to #4 in its second weekend. The film earned 189,101,930 yen (about $1.30 million). The film has earned a total of 723,538,940 yen (about $4.99 million).
The film opened in Japan on September 13. It debuted at number 2 in its opening weekend. The film sold 295,000 tickets and earned 367 million yen (about US$2.59 million) in its first three days, marking the second-highest three-day opening weekend for the Precure series, behind only last year's Precure All Stars F. The Amazing Precure! The Movie! Doki Doki Game no Sekai de Daiboken sold 405,000 tickets and earned 497 million yen (about US$3.51 million) in its first four days, including September 16 (which is Respect for the Aged Day in Japan).
The film follows Komugi and Iroha on a new adventure as they are drawn into the world of the video game Doki Doki Tanukingdom (Thrilling Raccoon-Dogkingdom). Characters from Hirogaru Sky! Precure (Hirogaru Sky! Precure) and Maho Girls Precure! (Mahō Tsukai Precure!) also appear in the film.
Naoki Miyahara (The First Slam Dunk unit director) is directing the film. Yoichi Kato (Yo-kai Watch) is writing the script. Takayuki Murakami is unit director. Erika Fukasawa is composing the music.
Image courtesy of Pony Canyon
©Negi Haruba, KODANSHA/Production Committee for “The Quintessential Quintuplets Specials2″.
The Quintessential Quintuplets Specials 2, the latest anime special of Negi Haruba's The Quintessential Quintuplets (Gotōbun no Hanayome) romantic comedy manga, ranked at #5 in its opening weekend. The anime earned 154,182,270 yen (about US$1.06 million) in its first three days.
The anime debuted a three-week limited run on September 20.
Masato Jinbo (The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie) directed the anime at Bibury Animation Studio and is responsible for writing the series' scripts. Haruba is credited for collaborating on the scripts, and Masato Katsumata (The Quintessential Quintuplets ∬, The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie) designed the characters.
Mrs. Green Apple//The White Lounge at CINEMA, a screening of the band Mrs. Green Apple's 2023-2024 tour, dropped from No. 4 to No. 6 in its second weekend. The film ranked No. 4 in its opening weekend.
Image via Transformers X/Twitter AccountTransformers One, the new animated prequel to the Transformers franchise, ranked No. 8 in Japan during its opening weekend. The film earned 117,529,500 yen (about $811,100) in its first three days.
The film also opened in the United States on September 20 and grossed $25 million in its opening weekend, debuting at number 2 at the US box office.
Transformers One focuses on the relationship between Optimus Prime and Megatron and takes place on Cybertron, the shared homeworld of both the protagonist Autobots and the villainous Decepticons.
Steven Spielberg is an executive producer on the animated film, along with Brian Goldner, Brian Oliver, Bradley J. Fischer and Valerii An. Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley is directing the film. Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari (Ant-Man and the Wasp) wrote the screenplay. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, Michael Bay, Mark Vahradian and Aaron Dem are producers.
Image via Mobile Suit Gun Seed FREEDOM Movie Website
© Sunflower and Plant
The Mobile Suit Gun Seed FREEDOM special edition ranked ninth in its opening weekend. The film earned 128,921,900 yen (approximately US$889,700) from Friday to Sunday. Together with the film's previous screenings, the film has earned a cumulative total of 5,048,982,557 yen (approximately US$34.8 million) as of September 25, selling 3,005,829 tickets.
The special editions of the film feature over 500 updated cutscenes. The first special edition of the film, which features an additional ending (or cuts), will run from September 20 to October 3. Another special edition, which features a different ending (or cuts), will run from November 1 to November 14.
Director Mitsuo Fukuda explained that due to time constraints, the staff was unable to complete each section as they wanted in the version that was released in theaters on January 26. For the special edition, they updated cuts and refined parts that felt awkward after screening. Fukuda added, “I think we can call this the definitive version of Seed FREEDOM.”
Mobile Suit Gun Seed FREEDOM opened in Japan on January 26. The film debuted at number 1 at the Japanese box office. The film sold 634,182 tickets for 1,065,983,130 yen (approximately US$7.20 million) in its first three days of release, marking the highest three-day opening box office for an anime series. The film is the highest-grossing Gundunda film ever in Japan.
Bandai Namco Filmworks and Fathom Events screened the film in the United States and Canada on May 7–8, with subtitles on May 7 and with an English dub on May 8.
Image via Anime X/Twitter Account
© キヅナツキ・新書館/ギヴン製作委員会
Eiga Given: Umi e (Given The Movie: To the Sea), the second film in the two-part anime sequel project, ranked No. 1 in the mini-cinema rankings in its opening weekend. The film opened on September 20.
Eiga Given: Hiiragi mix, the first film in a two-film project based on Natsuki Kizu's Given manga, opened in Japan on January 27.
A television anime adaptation of the manga premiered on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block in July 2019. The anime is the “first anime based on a boy-girl love manga” to air on Noitamina. Crunchyroll streamed the series as it aired and began streaming the English dub in August 2022.
An anime film based on the manga premiered in Japan in May 2020. Crunchyroll is streaming the film.
An original anime disc (or original anime video) titled Given: Uragawa no Sonzai (Given-on-the-Other-Side) – focusing on Mafuyu and Ritsuka during the events of the Given film – was bundled with a limited edition of the seventh manga volume in December 2021. Crunchyroll began streaming the OVA episode in July 2022.
Source: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC, Mobile Suit Gun Seed FREEDOM press release
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of companies.
