It's still early in Tintin's run in Japan, but it's going to need a miraculous recovery during New Year or it'll be considered a big disappointment. The way it's performing right now it could miss 1.5 billion ($20 million).

Weekend Admission Rankings
(Toho, Shikoku, Warner, Sunshine)

Toho
1. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) NEW!
2. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 3
3. Real Steel (Walt Disney) NEW!
4. Tale of Genji (Toho) NEW!
5. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 2
6. The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 2
7. A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 7
8. Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 2
9. 50/50 (Asmik Ace) Week 2
10. Kaiji 2 (Toho) Week 6


Shikoku
1. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) NEW!
2. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 3
3. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 2
4. Real Steel (Walt Disney) NEW!
5. Tale of Genji (Toho) NEW!
6. A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 7
7. The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 2
8. Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 2
9. Kaiji 2 (Toho) Week 6
10. Happy Feet Two (Warner Bros.) Week 3

Warner
1. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) NEW!
2. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 3
3. Real Steel (Walt Disney) NEW!
4. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 2
5. Tale of Genji (Toho) NEW!

Sunshine
1. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) NEW!
2. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 3
3. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 2
4. Real Steel (Walt Disney) NEW!
5. Tale of Genji (Toho) NEW!

Weekend Admission Ranking
December 10-11, 2011



1 (-) Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) NEW!
2 (1) Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 3
3 (-) Real Steel (Walt Disney) NEW!
4 (2) K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 2
5 (-) Tale of Genji (Toho) NEW!
6 (3) The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 2
7 (4) A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 7
8 (5) Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 2
9 (9) Happy Feet Two (Warner Bros.) Week 3
10 (6) Kaiji 2 (Toho) Week 6

Kamen Rider opened with 333,133 admissions to ¥387,422,200 ($4.92 million) on 301 screens. That's a 2.2% increase over last December's Kamen Rider film.

Kaibutsu-Kun exceeded ¥1.5 billion ($20 million) after 16 days.

Real Steel debuted on Friday, but only it's weekend figures have been released so far. The film opened with 176,254 admissions to ¥225,279,650 ($2.88 million) on 531 screens. Pretty impressive start.

Toho played Tale of Genji on 414 screens (very wide for a local release), but it only managed 128,825 admissions for ¥163,760,300 ($2.09 million) over the weekend. It should play well into the New Year, but it's still a disappointing debut.

And the other highlight this weekend was A Ghost of a Chance breaking 3 million admissons; ¥3.7 billion+ ($47.5 million+) after 7 weeks in release.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is set to open this Friday.

The biggest change for Ghost Protocol from it's predecessors has to be the release date. All the previous films have opened during the Summer Holidays in July, but this time Paramount is changing it up with a December release. This change has it's pros and cons, but the brand name should assure it great results either way.

Japan has been the biggest market for every film in the M:I franchise so far, and Tom Cruise is still arguably the biggest Hollywood actor in Japan.

July 06, Mission: Impossible III - 5.15 billion ($42.37 million), #10 Film of 2006
July 00, Mission: Impossible II - 9.70 billion (~$90-95 million), #1 Film of 2000; #28 All-Time
July 96, Mission: Impossible - 3.60 billion, #1 Film of 1996

I still think I would have gone with a July release date again, though. Japan gets many Holllywood films 4-6 months later, but that usually plays out positively for the film in the market due to the Japanese audience. Reviews, Box Office, etc. in the States has an effect on a film's appeal in Japan and given the strong reviews so far for Ghost Protocol, the late release would have worked really well, in my opinion. To sum it up, Hollywood films released before or at the same time as the US generally perform worse than those released after the US release (Tintin is a recent example of this).

Not to say getting the film the same week as the US and other countries is bad thing, though, Ghost Protocol is the favorite to become highest grossing film this New Year and is expected to gross more than ¥4 billion ($50 million).

I think they are just trying to boost up MI4's OS total thus releasing in Japan makes sense.

Weekend Results
December 10-11, 2011



今 先 　　週末 　　 　　 累計　 screens　週　題
1　-　 ¥378,031,454 ($4,838,803)　 ¥378,031,454 ($4,838,803)　301　1　仮面ライダー×仮面ライダー　フォーゼ＆オーズ MOVIE大戦 MEGA MAX (Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max)
2　1　 ¥311,523,244 ($3,987,498)　 ¥1,612,067,048 ($20,634,458)　446　3　映画　怪物くん (Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie)
3　-　 ¥225,047,030 ($2,880,602)　*, ¥277,371,776 ($3,550,359)　513　1　タンタンの冒険　ユニコーン号の秘密 (Real Steel)
4　2　 ¥193,299,602 ($2,474,235)　*, ¥690,372,888 ($8,836,773)　137　2　映画　けいおん！(K-ON! The Movie)
5　-　 ¥163,591,247 ($2,093,967)　*, ¥163,591,247 ($2,093,967)　414　1　源氏物語　千年の謎 (Tale of Genji)
6　3　 ¥133,557,276 ($1,709,661)　*, ¥576,948,945 ($7,384,947)　888　2　タンタンの冒険　ユニコーン号の秘密 (The Adventures of Tintin)
7　4　¥92,206,621 ($1,180,245)　 ¥3,730,321,422 ($47,748,114)　427　7　ステキな金縛り (A Ghost of a Chance)
8　5　* ¥56,809,463 ($727,161)　*, ¥318,319,399 ($4,074,488)　211　2　RAILWAYS 愛を伝えられない大人たちへ (Railways 2)
9　9　*¥26,231,991 ($335,765)　*, ¥153,747,428 ($1,967,967)　461　3　ハッピーフィート2 踊るペンギンレスキュー隊 (Happy Feet Two)
10　6　*¥23,032,433 ($294,815)　 ¥1,519,343,839 ($19,447,601)　316　6　カイジ2 人生奪回ゲーム (Kaiji 2)

Great start for Kamen Rider's latest. The opening is 8% better than this past August's film, and 2% better than last December's film. It should reach a total of ¥1.5/1.6 billion (about $20 million).

Real Steel debuts above expectations to some impressive numbers. It'll have no problem crossing the ¥1 billion ($12 million) mark and may have a shot at ¥1.5 billion itself.

Soft opening for Tale of Genji, especially with the big screen count. Norwegian Wood opened 10% higher this time last year and finished with ¥1.4 billion, so a final total of ¥1.3 billion ($16/17 million) is likely.

Any good WOM Tintin may have isn't having any effect on it's Box Office results yet. It had the second biggest drop in the Top 10 and has fallen behind K-ON! by more than ¥100 million already.

A Ghost of a Chance exceeded 3 million admissions this weekend with the best drop in the Top 10 . It should hit the ¥4 billion ($50 million) milestone the Dec. 24-25th Weekend.

2012 Box Office Charts

[JAPANESE FILMS - TOTALS]

1. Nov. 11, Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) ¥1,612,067,048 ($20,634,458), 1,203,036 Admissions - [16 Days in Release]
2. Dec. 11, K-ON!: The Movie (Shochiku) ¥690,372,888 ($8,836,773), 524,057 Admissions - [9 Days in Release]
3. Dec. 11, Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) ¥378,031,454 ($4,838,803), 333,133 Admissions - [2 Days in Release]
4. Dec. 11, Railways 2 (Shochiku) ¥318,319,399 ($4,074,488), 250,645 Admissions - [9 Days in Release (Previews Included)]
5. Dec. 11, Tale of Genji (Toho) ¥163,591,247 ($2,093,967), 128,825 Admissions - [2 Days in Release]

[IMPORTED FILMS - TOTALS]

1. Dec. 11, The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) ¥576,948,945 ($7,384,947), 384,055 Admissions - [11 Days in Release]
2. Dec. 11, Real Steel (Warner Bros.) ¥277,371,776 ($3,550,359), 217,035 Admissions - [3 Days in Release]
3. Nov. 11, Happy Feet Two (Warner Bros.) ¥153,747,428 ($1,967,967), 117,724 Admissions - [16 Days in Release]
4. Nov. 11, Arthur Christmas (Sony) ¥108,876,432 ($1,392,185), 83,048 Admissions - [16 Days in Release]
5. Dec. 11, 50/50 (Asmik Ace) ¥23,908,360 ($306,004), 18,634 Admissions - [9 Days in Release]

[ALL OPENING WEEKENDS - TWO DAY]

1. Nov. 11, Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) ¥581,037,923 ($7,495,392), 431,093 Admissions - [446 Screens]
2. Dec. 11, Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) ¥378,031,454 ($4,838,803), 333,133 Admissions - [301 Screens]
3. Dec. 11, K-ON!: The Movie (Shochiku) ¥316,310,406 ($4,080,404), 237,817 Admissions - [137 Screens]
4. Dec. 11, Real Steel (Warner Bros.) ¥225,047,030 ($2,880,602), 176,254 Admissions - [531 Screens]
5. Dec. 11, The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) ¥219,508,716 ($2,831,622), 148,697 Admissions - [895 Screens]
6. Dec. 11, Tale of Genji (Toho) ¥163,591,247 ($2,093,967), 128,825 Admissions - [414 Screens]
7. Dec. 11, Railways 2 (Shochiku) ¥89,878,387 ($1,159,431), 82,707 Admissions - [211 Screens]
8. Nov. 11, Happy Feet Two (Warner Bros.) ¥54,031,256 ($697,004), 40,750 Admissions - [465 Screens]
9. Nov. 11, Arthur Christmas (Sony) ¥25,015,648 ($323,068), 18,868 Admissions - [292 Screens]
10. Dec. 11, 50/50 (Asmik Ace) ¥10,410,359 ($133,239), 8,109 Admissions - [32 Screens]

Wow goes to show the poor performance of Tintin and HF2.

It's really unfortunate that Tintin is performing so poorly because Hollywood really needed it to breakout or at least become a sizable hit. It even opened on 895 screens, the 4th widest release ever behind only two Harry Potter films and Narnia 3 (yeah, dunno).

Hollywood may have a strong 2012 line-up, but The Amazing Spider-Man is the only release looking at a big gross in Japan among them.

My Predictions (Hollywood Top 5 of 2012):

1. The Amazing Spider-Man
2. Resident Evil: Retribution
3. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
4. Brave
5. Men in Black III (I guess)

I guess Titanic 3D could prove a big hit considering how popular it was/is in Japan, but re-releases generally don't perform that well. Titanic is in another league when compared to other re-releases though, so maybe it'll be different.

47 Ronin doesn't have a release date yet, and I doubt it's before the 2013 Box Office Year begins. The Hobbit is also set to be a 2013 release.

Was the original release of Titanic did gangbusters, so there is always a good chance for this to do well. Also 3d seems to continues to show its strong popularity in Japan.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol isn't the only big release this weekend. Distributor Toho and Director Takashi Yamazaki (Space Battleship Yamato, ALWAYS, Ballad) are releasing Friends: Naki on Monster Island in 2D/3D.



Friends: Naki on Monster Island is also the first full-length 3D CG feature to be released by Japan.

PLOT SUMMARY
"In a country strangely similar to Japan, there is an island floating on the middle of a lake. It is said that monsters have been living there from the ancient time so that people feared the island calling it "the Monster Island." But in reality, the monsters living there are sweet and are in fact living their lives fearing the humans.

One day, a human child named Kotake wanders off into the island. Surprisingly, Naki, a red ogre who is difficult to please and therefore unpopular among others, ends up taking care of him. Naki hates other ogres as well as humans, and has been living a lonely life, but starts living together with his only friend Gunjo, who is a blue ogre, and the human child Kotake. Through the life with Gunjo and Kotake, Naki gradually opens up his heart and gets to know the meaning of tenderness. However, the merry living together doesn't last long. Since Kotake comes to miss his parents, Naki sends him back to his village. But when the villagers see Naki, they beat him off, and Naki is stripped away from Kotake.

Naki gets depressed after losing Kotake. Seeing his discouraged friend, Gunjo makes up his mind to do a certain thing, which separates Gunjo and Naki forever."

The plot is quite similar to Monster, Inc., Pixar's third highest grossing film (2nd in Admissions) and their biggest DVD seller in Japan. And the lack of any kid/family films this December could result in a impressive Box Office performance.

TRAILER


I think the animation looks really nice, and the film entertaining. Director Takashi Yamazaki has high hopes for the film and plans to enter it for the Academy Awards.

The Final Totals for the Top 3 Local Films of 2011 were released today:

1. From Kokuriko Hill (Toho) ¥4.46 billion ($57.81 million), 3,612,329 Admissions.
2. Pokemon Best Wishes: Black—Victini and Reshiram and White—Victini and Zekrom (Toho) ¥4.33 billion ($56.12 million), 4,135,626 Admissions.
3. Space Battleship Yamato (Toho) ¥4.10 billion ($53.14 million), 3,301,127 Admissions.

http://www.bunkatsushin.com/news/article.aspx?id=54588

The full list should be available after New Year.

Yesterday, Distributor Toho (largest distributor and screen operator in Japan) revealed their 2012 Box Office Year Film lineup.

Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (11/26) 3D&2D Already in Release
Tale of Genji (12/10) Already in Release
Friends: Naki on Monster Island (12/17) 3D&2D
Inazuma Eleven GO the Movie: The Ultimate Bonds Gryphon (12/23) 3D&2D
Robo-G (1/14)
Always: Sunset on Third Street ‘64 (1/21) 3D&2D
Shinzanmono: The Movie (1/28)
Japan's Islands - Tales of the Animals (2/4)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (2/11)
Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles (3/3)
Liar Game: Reborn (3/3)
We Were There: Part I (3/17)
SPEC: The Movie (4/7)
Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker (4/14)
Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called Bride (4/14)
We Were There: Part II (4/21)
Thermae Romae: The Movie (4/28)
Space Brothers (5/5)
Girl (5/26)
Hotaru no Hikari: The Movie (6/9)
Umizaru 4: Brave Hearts (July) 3D&2D
Pokemon Best Wishes: Kyurem VS. The Sacred Swordsmen (7/14)
The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki (July)
Naruto: Untitled Film (Summer)
Another (Summer)
To You (8/25)
The Floating Castle (Fall)
Tsunahiichatta! (Fall)
Today, Our Love Begins (Late 2012)
Blue Exorcist: Untitled Film (Late 2012)

http://www.toho.co.jp/4less/cgi-bin/cs4 ... up2012.pdf

I don't believe some Fall or Late 2012 films have been announced yet, however. And the list doesn't include Imported Films that will be distributrd by Toho's subsidiary company, Toho-Towa.

As of the end of November 2011, films distributed by Toho earned a revenue of approx. ¥55 billion ($700 million) for the year.

Yearly Proceeds for the major companies in Japan has been released up to November (One more month will be included in the figures below before they're final).

Imported Films: ¥64,065,590,560 ($826 million), 45.4% Market Share; 22% decline from 2010.
Japanese Films: ¥76,954,366,533 ($993 million), 54.6% Market Share; 18% decline from 2010.

Largest Distributor (Toho): ¥54,208,813,490 ($701 million), 38% Market Share (new record).

2010 was the biggest year ever for the Japan Box Office, so 2011 was definitely going to drop off from it. However, the year itself is looking at perhaps a 20% decline. But without any ¥10 billion+ grossers (2010 had Avatar, Alice, and Toy Story reached the milestone), and the Earthquake decreasing the number of operating theaters in the country (and showtimes limited to conserve power), I guess it shouldn't be that surprising.

On the plus side, more Japanese Films grossed over ¥1 billion than in 2011 (I'll have the list later today), and 2012 should see a big increase over 2011.

Weekend Forecast
December 17-18, 2011



1 (-) Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) NEW!
2 (1) Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) Week 2
3 (-) Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) NEW!
4 (2) Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
5 (3) Real Steel (Walt Disney) Week 2
6 (4) K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 3
7 (5) Tale of Genji (Toho) Week 2
8 (6) The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 3
9 (7) A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 8
10 (8) Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 3

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is doing huge business with a Friday 112% greater than Rise of the Planet of the Apes's Opening Day.

Apes opened to 318,000 admissions; ¥403 million ($5.2 million), so if Mission Impossible keeps this up through the weekend, it may break 700,000 admissions; ¥850/900 million ($10 million) for just Saturday and Sunday and most likely over ¥1 billion ($12 million) for it's first three days in release. That wouldn't be too far behind the opening weekends of Pirates or Harry Potter films this past year.

Also, it would probably result in a total of ¥6 billion ($75 million+) or more, and with that total, M:I4 would have a legitimate chance of being the biggest Imported Film of 2012 with only The Amazing Spider-Man as a contender.

Japanese audiences still clearly love Cruise and the M:I franchise.

Biggest December Opening Weekends (¥750 million+)

1. 2001, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ¥1,573,340,090
2. 2003, Finding Nemo ¥1,116,406,912
3. 2009, One Piece Film Strong World ¥1,038,445,263
4. 2003, The Last Samurai ¥902,346,870
5. 2002, Minority Report ¥786,486,308
6. 2004, The Incredibles ¥751,852,208

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is on track to beat The Incredibles and Minority Report, and maybe even The Last Samurai.

Also interesting to note Finding Nemo and The Last Samurai, perhaps the biggest Japan BO Battle, opened the same weekend and remained almost equal in gross for 9 weeks (even ranked 1st and 2nd every weekend at the box office) until Samurai eventually overtook Nemo.

With the WOM this one will generate and holidays to boost a little bit I think MI4 will be huge here, opening was anyways going to be big.

According to reports, it slowed down a little on Saturday. However, morning and afternoon showings for Sunday are outpacing those on Saturday so it still has potential to hit ¥1 billion ($12 million+) after three days.

Sunday is also looking very strong for every other film in release, too.

Data is usually available between 11pm - 1am in Japan (10-12 hours from now), so I should have weekend estimates based on those locations posted then.

Also, if anyone is interested in other Japanese Box Office or Film news I don't post in this thread, they can visit (follow!) my Twitter page I dedicate to the topic. I take spells where I don't tweet for days (or weeks ^__^), but I try keep it updated regularly.

http://twitter.com/#!/KidCorpse

Based on data from the usual locations (15% of the market), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol will open, over the three day, to 575,000-625,000 admissions. Increasing the avg. ticket price from M:I3's opening weekend (¥1,336) slightly due to IMAX and a likely older audience to ¥1,350, should be good enough for ¥800 million+ ($10.5 million).

Last week's data was low on the openers and holdovers by 5-10%, so keep that in mind, too.

Weekend Admission Rankings (Dec. 17-18)
(Toho, Shikoku, Warner, Sunshine Cinemas)

TOHO
1. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 1
2. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
3. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) Week 2
4. Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) Week 1
5. Tale of Genji (Toho) Week 2
6. Real Steel (Walt Disney) Week 2
7. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 3
8. The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 3
9. A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 8
10. Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 3

SHIKOKU
1. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 1
2. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) Week 2
3. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
4. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 3
5. Tale of Genji (Toho) Week 2
6. Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) Week 1
7. Real Steel (Walt Disney) Week 2
8. Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 3
9. A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 8
10. The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 3

WARNER
1. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 1
2. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) Week 2
3. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
4. Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) Week 1
5. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 3

SUNSHINE
1. Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 1
2. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) Week 2
3. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 3
4. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
5. Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) Week 1

Sunshine Cinema added.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Daily Breakdown:
Day, Admissions / Gross

16th, 125,501 / 1億5297万500円 ($1.96 million)
17th, 220,179 / 2億8381万9150円 ($3.63 million) +85%
18th, 217,571 / 2億8904万2100円 ($3.70 million) +2%

3-Day Total, 563,251 / 7億2583万1750円 ($9.29 million) [343 Theaters]

The avg. ticket price came in below ¥1,300 (about $17), the general admission fee, which is very interesting when considering IMAX. Either advanced ticket sales were really strong (buying tickets in advanced is much cheaper) and/or the film skewed younger than expected. The latter explanation could prove very positive for the film's legs because bringing in a new audience is very difficult to do with a franchise like this.

A normal multiplier would result in a finish of about ¥4 billion ($50 million), but the New Year should allow it to reach ¥5 billion ($60-70 million) or approx. 4 million admissions.

A little lesser than the initial numbers but that is still a great opening for it.

December 17-18, 2011
Weekend Admission Ranking



1. Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 1
2. Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max (TOEI) Week 2
3. Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
4. Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) Week 1
5. K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 3
6. Real Steel (Walt Disney) Week 2
7. Tale of Genji (Toho) Week 2
8. The Adventures of Tintin (Toho-Towa) Week 3
9. A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) Week 8
10. Railways 2 (Shochiku) Week 3

M:I4 numbers are in my previous post. It played on 636 screens.

Kamen Rider beat Kaibutsu-Kun in admissions this weekend (180,000 vs 150,000), but thanks to the latter's 3D ticket prices, both tied in gross with an estimated ¥200 million ($2.5 million).

Friends debuted on 334 screens with 103,886 admissions to ¥142,237,830 ($1.8 million). The audience was very diverse during it's opening weekend. Gender ration was 47:53, and all age groups from 6-50+ represented from 17.2% to 25.8% of the audience. These facts should play very well into the New Year.

A Ghost of a Chance exceeded 3.1 million admissions and ¥3.85 billion ($49 million) after eight weeks in release. It's locked to become the 7th Biggest Film of 2011 beating Space Battleship Yamato's ¥4.10 billion total, but there is also a slight chance it could challenge Transformers 3 (¥4.25 billion), Pokemon 14 (¥4.33 billion), or Kokuriko Hill (¥4.46 billion) to climb even higher with New Year coming up.


[TOP 10 FILMS OF 2011]

1. July, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Warner Bros.) ¥9.60 billion ($124.43 million)
2. May, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Walt Disney) ¥8.85 billion ($114.71 million)
3. Nov.10, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) ¥6.80 billion ($88.14 million)
4. July, From Kokuriko Hill (Toho) ¥4.46 billion ($57.81 million)
5. July, Pokemon Best Wishes: Black Version - Victini and Reshiram / White Version - Victini and Zekrom (Toho) ¥4.33 billion ($56.12 million)
6. July, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Paramount) ¥4.25 billion ($55.09 million)
7. Dec.10, Space Battleship Yamato (Toho) ¥4.10 billion ($53.14 million)
8. Oct., A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) ¥3.85 billion ($49 million)*
9. Jan., Gantz (Toho) ¥3.45 billion ($44.72 million)
10. Mar., SP: The Motion Picture - Revolution (Toho) ¥3.39 billion ($43.94 million)

*estimate after 8 weeks in release.