Animated Films Brighten Box Office

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Wed, 08/24/2022 - 14:25 -- Nick Dager

The global box office got animated this past weekend as animated hits took center stage, according to the latest report from the London-based analytics firm Gower Street. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero topped the global box office with a $33.1 million weekend, bringing its global gross to $51.6 million (including a mid-June release in Japan).The global box office got animated this past weekend as animated hits took center stage, according to the latest report from the London-based analytics firm Gower Street. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero topped the global box office with a $33.1 million weekend, bringing its global gross to $51.6 million (including a mid-June release in Japan).

The report said the film topped the chart in the domestic market with $21.05 million, a result on par with 2020’s Demon Slayer: Mugen Train ($21.2m) and a big gain on distributor Crunchyroll’s previous 2022 release, March’s Jujutsu Kaisen 0 ($14.8m). Super Hero and Jujutsu Kaisen 0 rank as the third and fifth highest grossing anime openings in the domestic market, respectively. The number one remains 1999’s Pokemon: The First Movie.

Following a number one debut in France last week, the Detective Conan’s latest conquest was Taiwan where a number one opening this past weekend took in $1.93 million (including previews). That is the second highest opening for a Japanese film in Taiwan after Demon Slayer. ($4.14m).Among international markets, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was particularly impressive across Latin America scoring number one openings throughout the region. Mexico led the way with $3.91 million, followed by Argentina ($1.45m) and Peru ($1.23m). In Japan itself One Piece Film: Red continued to dominate in week three and has now grossed ¥9.28 billion ($68.8 million). It has already overtaken Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween to become the top grossing local title of 2022, and is the second biggest release of the year-to-date, behind Top Gun: Maverick.

Following a number one debut in France last week, the Detective Conan’s latest conquest was Taiwan where a number one opening this past weekend took in $1.93 million (including previews). That is the second highest opening for a Japanese film in Taiwan after Demon Slayer. ($4.14m).

China’s box office was dominated by the success of New Gods: Yang Jian, the third film in Ji Zhao’s New Gods series. The latest film opened number one with $19.7 million (¥133.8 million) from 3.16 million admissions. Last year’s New Gods: Nezha Reborn opened to $20.4 million (¥131.8 million) from 2.73 million admissions and went on to gross $70 million in China. The first film in the series, 2018’s White Snake, grossed $66.7 million in China ($69.2 million across all markets).

China’s box office was dominated by the success of New Gods: Yang Jian, the third film in Ji Zhao’s New Gods series. Meanwhile, Minions: The Rise of Gru made its debut in China to the tune of $11.5 million at number three. The Illumination sequel also opened number one in Italy with $6.04 million (including previews, $4.49m standard weekend). That was the third biggest opening of the pandemic-era (and biggest for an animated film). The film crossed $350 million at the domestic box office this past weekend and has now grossed $835.8 million globally.

Bullet Train crossed $150 million worldwide this past weekend, its third in release, while Top Gun: Maverick’s unstoppable success saw it cross $1.4 billion globally in week thirteen.

As of August 20, global box office in 2022 stands at approximately $18.5 billion, tracking 62 percent ahead of 2021 at the same stage ($11.4 billion) and -33 percent behind the average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019). That represents a deficit of -$9.1 billion.

Both the domestic and international markets, excluding China, have seen progress fall back slightly, with the domestic market now -32 percent behind the three-year average, and the international market 30 percent behind the pre-pandemic average. Domestic and international had reached highs of -31 percent and -29 percent, respectively, in recent weeks. China is -42 percent behind.

The market share of global cinemas currently stands at 87.2 percent, a marginal week-on-week drop from 87.7 percent the previous week, despite small expansions in all three international box office regions (EMEA, Asia Pacific, Latin America). These were countered by small reductions in the domestic and Chinese markets