That would require me to post over 400 films (many in the 3.5-4 range), and I don't feel like doing THAT much. lol. I did miss M:I2 though, it had 7.5 million.

During the 50's and 60's, there were more than twice as many movie screens as there are today, and ticket prices were very, very cheap. For example, Tokyo Olympiad sold 19.5 million tickets (only behind Spirited Away as you see), but the avg. ticket price in 1965 was only 63 yen. That would equal less than 4 billion yen, a total that barely makes the Top 10 at the end of the year these days.

Selling 3 million tickets was pretty easy during that era.

Below the Top 50, though:

51. HERO (2007) 6.29 million
52. Staring at the Love and Death (1964) 6.25 million
53. At the Center of the World, Crying Out Love (2004) 6.23 million
54. Tales from Earthsea (2006) 6.1 million
55. Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (2003) 6.0 million
56. The Man Who Calls Up the Storm (1957) 5.94 million
57. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2003) 5.93 million
58. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) 5.9 million
59. Bayside Shakedown 3: Set the Guys Loose! (2010) 5.7 million
59. Pokemon: The Power of One (2000) 5.6 million
60. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2006) 5.6 million
61. Umizaru 3: The Last Message (2010) 5.6 million
62. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2011) 5.5 million
63. The Cat Returns (2002) 5.5 million
64. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964) 5.41 million
65. The Matrix (1999) 5.3 million
66. Umizaru 2: The Limit of Love (2006) 5.3 million
67. Spider-Man 3 (2007) 5.17 million
68. Spider-Man (2002) 5.14 million
69. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) 5.13 million
70. Departures (2008) 5.0 million
71. Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl - The Rise of Darkrai (2007) 4.8 million
72. Spider-Man 2 (2004) 4.75 million
73. The Hotel Ecstasy (2006) 4.7 million
74. Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl - Giratina and the Sky Warrior (2008) 4.66 million
75. Pokemon: Spell of the Unown (2001) 4.5 million

There are a few films missing, or that I overlooked though. Independence Day, Back to the Future, and Star Wars Episode III are probably in the 6/7 range. I'll ask about them if I have to.

Terminator 2:8.8 million
Terminator 3:8.2 million

http://www18.ocn.ne.jp/~hbr/boxoffice/top50movies_e.htm

That's grosses (billion), I was posting admission numbers. I used that page in the past though before I discovered local sources. You can see a more updated version on the blog I started a few weeks ago now.

February 18-19
Weekend Forecast

01 (01) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sony) Week 2
02 (02) Always: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 5
03 (NEW) In Time (FOX) Week 1
04 (NEW) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) Week 1
05 (03) Shizanmono: The Movie (Toho) Week 4
06 (04) Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home (TOEI) Week 2
07 (05) Phoenix Wright: The Movie (Toho) Week 2
08 (06) Japan's Islands - Tales of the Animals (Toho) Week 3
09 (07) Robo-G (Toho) Week 6
10 (08) Tower Heist (Toho-Towa) Week 3

The Top 4 films should be in a close race this weekend. I'm predicting Dragon Tattoo to barely edge out Always 3 again this weekend, In Time to place third thanks to it's Friday opening, and Extremely Loud to trail since it didn't have any significant award boosts.

Once Saturday Data is available, I'll post an update on how they're faring.

A few smaller releases, Fish on Land and Afro Tanaka, could bump Tower Heist out of the Top 10. Melancholia appears to be opening too limited to have a shot at a Top 10 debut.

In Time is doing really well based on crowd reports, including some sold out showings. Impressive because I'm pretty sure FOX got it on 500+ screens.

And FOX has had success this time of year, too, with Jumper and Percy Jackson.

I'm going to change my prediction and say it'll come out on top this weekend despite opening on Friday.

In Time is definitely going to debut in 1st. It's Saturday was only 1.5% off Dragon Tattoo's last weekend. That'll put it over ¥200 million ($2.6 million) for the weekend, and ¥250 million ($3.3 million) for the 3-Day.

Always 3 should remain in second place, dropping 43.8% from last Saturday aiming for a ¥125/130 million ($1.7 million) fifth weekend.

Dragon Tattoo is likely to drop to third, down 50.0% from last Saturday. It's second weekend is targeting ¥115/120 million ($1.5 million).

Extremely Loud is lagging behind and could miss debuting to ¥100 million ($1.3 million) unless it picks up today.

Overall, drops are pretty big compared to last Saturday. M:I-4 could rank 10th this weekend giving it 10 weeks in the Top 10, though, since it beat Tower Heist yesterday according to the data.

In Time is going to open higher than Dragon Tattoo's opening weekend, up 12.9% over it. Big hit for FOX.

Weekend Projections based on the Weekend Data:

1 (-) In Time - 255/265 million ($3.1-3.4 million), NEW
2 (2) Always 3 - 135/140 million ($1.7-1.9 million), Week 5
3 (1) Dragon Tattoo - 120/125 million ($1.4-1.6 million), Week 2
4 (-) Extremely Loud - 95/105 million ($1.2-1.3 million), NEW
5 (3) Shizanmono - 95/105 million ($1.2-1.3 million), Week 4
6 (4) Hayabusa - 75/80 million ($900,000-1 million), Week 2
7 (5) Phoenix Wright - 65/70 million ($800-900,000), Week 2
8 (6) Japan's Islands - 35/40 million ($450-550,000), Week 3
9 (-) Afro Tanaka - 30/35 million ($350-450,000), NEW
10 (9) Super Sentai - 20/25 million ($250-325,000), Week 5

Robo-G - 20/25 million ($250-325,000), Week 6
M:I-4 - 20/25 million ($250-325,000), Week 10
Tower Heist - 15/20 million ($200-250,000), Week 3

And In Time probably broke 300 million (about $4 million) since Friday, putting $20 million into play.

Cinema Weekend Rankings

All the major chains have reported except for Cinema Sunshine. The site is currently in extended maintenance, so it's probably unlikely they'll update this weekend.

All-Time Ranking [Admissions] has been added.

The list now includes the few films that were missing when I posted it the other day.

Weekend Ranking [Feb. 18-19]

*In Time debuts in first with the best Imported opening since M:I4. 1.5 billion+ or $20 million looks pretty good.
*Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close sees a decent start in fourth (fifth in revenue, however), but misses 100 million.
*Shizanmono exceeds 1 million admissions.
*Afro Tanaka debuts in tenth, giving distributor Showgate their first, and probably last, top 10 film this year.

Next weekend will be slow.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 will debut inside the Top 5, but miss the Top 3. Japan is one of the few markets where Twilight never became popular. And Underworld 4 will settle somewhere in the bottom half of the Top 10. The other openers are limited releases.

But the four wide openers of the following weekend will probably take up the Top 4 spots for the weekend, and Doraemon 32(33?) has potential to open with the most admissions so far this year. Only a couple of the last 10 films in the franchise have missed opening to 400,000+ admissions.

As of 02/19:

Top Grossing Films (2012)
Rank :: Revenue ¥ (billion) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Admissions (million) :: Days In Release :: Distributor
01 :: ¥5.31 / $69.52 :: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol :: Dec '10 :: 4.17 :: 66 :: Paramount
02 :: ¥3.08 / $40.34 :: Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie :: Nov '10 :: 2.31 :: TE :: Toho
03 :: ¥2.80 / $35.99 :: ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 :: Jan. :: 2.21 :: 30 :: Toho
04 :: ¥1.65 / $21.62 :: K-ON! The Movie :: Dec '10 :: 1.26 :: TE :: Shochiku
05 :: ¥1.51 / $19.78 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: War Mega Max :: Dec '10 :: 1.30 :: TE :: TOEI
06 :: ¥1.47 / $19.11 :: Friends: Naki On Monster Island :: Dec '10 :: 1.10 :: TE :: Toho
07 :: ¥1.43 / $18.72 :: Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto :: Dec '10 :: 1.13 :: TE :: TOEI
08 :: ¥1.42 / $18.60 :: Real Steel :: Dec '10 :: 1.11 :: TE :: Walt Disney
09 :: ¥1.39 / $18.17 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '10 :: 1.15 :: TE :: Toho
10 :: ¥1.28 / $16.35 :: Shizanmono: The Movie :: Jan. :: 1.05 :: 23 :: Toho
11 :: ¥1.12 / $14.58 :: Inazuma Eleven GO: The Movie :: Dec '10 :: .926 :: TE :: Toho
12 :: ¥1.11 / $14.38 :: Robo-G :: Jan. :: .953 :: 37 :: Toho

Robo-G enters the Top 12 after six weeks, bumping Tintin off the chart.


Top Opening Weekends (2012)
Rank :: Revenue ¥ (million) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Admissions (thousand) :: Screen Count :: Distributor
01 :: ¥581.04 / $7.50 :: Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie :: Nov '10 :: 431.09 :: 446 :: Toho
02 :: ¥573.22 / $7.34 :: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol :: Dec '10 :: 437.75 :: 636 ::Paramount
03 :: ¥555.66 / $7.22 :: ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 :: Jan. :: 421.27 :: 473 :: Toho
04 :: ¥378.03 / $4.84 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: War Mega Max :: Dec '10 :: 333.13 :: 301 :: TOEI
05 :: ¥316.31 / $4.08 :: K-ON! The Movie :: Dec '10 :: 237.82 :: 137 :: Shochiku
06 :: ¥277.13 / $3.63 :: In Time :: Feb. :: 203.05 :: 427 :: FOX
07 :: ¥276.41 / $3.62 :: Shizanmono: The Movie :: Jan. :: 217.18 :: 377 :: Toho
08 :: ¥230.89 / $2.98 :: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo :: Feb. :: 178.36 :: 431 :: Sony
09 :: ¥225.05 / $2.88 :: Real Steel :: Dec '10 :: 176.25 :: 531 :: Walt Disney
10 :: ¥219.51 / $2.83 :: The Adventures of Tintin :: Dec '10 :: 148.70 :: 895 :: Toho-Towa
11 :: ¥202.39 / $2.63 :: Robo-G :: Jan. :: 164.69 :: 279 :: Toho
12 :: ¥163.59 / $2.09 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '10 :: 128.83 :: 414 :: Toho

You'll notice that In Time would rank below Shizanmono in USD, and that's because the exchange rate changed a great deal this past week due to world events. EDIT: I'm putting In Time at $3.63 million (instead of $3.47 million). The exchange rate before Tuesday should have been used, my mistake.


New Entry
TE (Tracking Ends)

February 25-26, 2012
Weekend Forecast

01 (01) In Time (FOX) Week 2
02 (02) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sony) Week 3
03 (03) ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 6
04 (-) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I (Kadokawa Pictures) Week 1
05 (04) Shizanmono: The Movie (Toho) Week 5
06 (05) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) Week 2
07 (06) Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home (TOEI) Week 3
08 (07) Phoenix Wright: The Movie (Toho) Week 3
09 (-) Underworld: Awakening (Sony) Week 1
10 (08) Japan's Islands - Tales of the Animals (Toho) Week 4

Breaking Dawn Part I will open with ~90/100 million ($1.2/1.3 million).

A pretty quiet weekend before Doraemon, Hugo, and Liar Game: Reborn dominate next week.

[Upcoming Animated Release Schedule]

March
Doraemon (M32): Nobita and the Island of Miracles (Toho), 3rd
Puss in Boots (Paramount), 17th
Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage (M5): Friends of the Future (TOEI), 17th
Strike Witches: The Movie (Kadokawa Pictures), 24th

April
Detective Conan (M16): The Eleventh Striker (Toho), 14th
Crayon Shin-chan (M20): Arashi wo Yobu! Ora to Uchuu no Princess (Toho), 14th
A Letter to Momo (Kadokawa Pictures), 21st

May
Rainbow-Colored Fireflies: The Eternal Summer Vacation (TOEI), 19th

June
Blood-C: The Last Dark (Shochiku), 2nd
Berserk Golden Age Arc II (Warner Bros.), 23rd

July
Brave (Walt Disney), TBA
Naruto Shippuden (M6) (Toho), TBA
Pokemon (M15) Best Wishes: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo (Toho), 14th
The Wolf Children of Rain and Snow (Toho), 21st

August
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Paramount), TBA
Fairy Tail: The Movie (Shochiku), 18th

Notes:
Pokemon advance tickets go on sale next month. The new film marks the 15th anniversary for the film franchise. Every film since the 10th have sold over 2 million in advance (Movie 10 being in the Guinness Book of World Records).
Brave is being translated to "Merida and the Forest of Fear". Brave is a fine title, but the translated title is excellent, imo.

Weekend Data from the usual locations:

Openers,

Breaking Dawn Part I sold 45.6% of the tickets In Time did last weekend. It would be looking at 90-100,000 admissions / ¥110-120 million ($1.4 million) with that figure. That might be enough to debut in second place, the highest debut for a Twilight film, and it would be an increase of 10/15% over Eclipse.

Holdovers,

In Time holds strong, dropping just 24.2% in it's second weekend. That will put it over 150,000 admissions / ¥200 million+ ($2.5 million) for the weekend, giving it an easy second week on top.

Dragon Tattoo and Always 3 continue to stay close to one another. Dragon looks good for 70-80,000 admissions / ¥100-110 million ($1.3 million) in it's third week (down 34.0%), as does Always 3 in it's sixth week (down 26.9%).

What are the big Hollywood/domestic movies coming out this summer? Any predictions for top 5/top 10 this year?

2012's blockbusters are spaced out very well this year. All the films below will likely be in the Top 10 for the year.

Domestic:
Umizaru 4: Brave Hearts (July)
Pokemon Best Wishes: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo (July 14)
Bayside Shakedown 4: The Final (September)
Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo (Fall)

Imported:
The Amazing Spider-Man (June 30)
Men in Black 3 (May 25)
Brave (July)
Resident Evil: Retribution (September 15)


Current Top 10 Predictions:

01 Umizaru 4: Brave Hearts - ¥8.5 billion ($108 million)
02 Bayside Shakedown 4: The Final - ¥7.7 billion ($97 million)
03 The Amazing Spider-Man - ¥6.4 billion ($81 million)
04 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - ¥5.5 billion ($71 million)

The rest of the Top 10 is difficult to rank since they'll all probably finish within ¥1 billion of one another.

05 Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo - ¥4.5 billion ($57 million)
06 Pokemon Best Wishes: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo - ¥4.4 billion ($56 million)
07 Resident Evil: Retribution - ¥4.2 billion ($53 million)
08 Brave - ¥4.1 billion ($52 million)
09 Men in Black 3 - ¥3.7 billion ($47 million)
10 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 - ¥3.6 billion ($46 million)

This is through November, by the way. December releases (The Hobbit, 007, new One Piece) count toward the following year. Interesting to note regarding The Hobbit Part I's surprise December release, all three Lord of the Rings films were released in March in Japan.

And it doesn't include some potential breakout films. Snow White and the Huntsman (June 15) and Battleship (April 13) are the biggest wild cards from the imported releases, IMO. I had no idea Battleship opened so early. Maybe even Titanic 3D (April 7), but re-releases never do well in Japan (rarely even open in the Top 10). Could be different with a film like Titanic, though. I guess John Carter (April 13) can't be rule out just yet either.

There could also be a domestic release in October I'm not aware of that could make the Top 10. Almost every October at least one domestic release grosses over 3 billion. And in the event that Men in Black 3 disappoints or Always 3 has poor late legs and misses 3.5 billion, the latest releases of Doraemon (March 3) or Detective Conan (April 14) could also have a shot at the Top 10. Both franchises has films that have grossed more than 3 billion before, but never over 3.5 billion.

Weekend Ranking {Feb. 25-26]

*In Time nears ¥1 billion after 10 days.
*ALWAYS 3 tops ¥3 billion after six weeks.
*Breaking Dawn Part I debuts in 4th with less than ¥100 million.

As of 02/26:

Top Grossing Films (2012)
Rank :: Revenue ¥ (billion) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Admissions (million) :: Days In Release :: Distributor
01 :: ¥5.35 / $70.02 :: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol :: Dec '10 :: 4.20 :: 73 :: Paramount
02 :: ¥3.08 / $40.34 :: Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie :: Nov '10 :: 2.31 :: TE :: Toho
03 :: ¥3.04 / $38.16 :: ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 :: Jan. :: 2.39 :: 37 :: Toho
04 :: ¥1.69 / $22.24 :: K-ON! The Movie :: Dec '10 :: 1.31 :: 86 :: Shochiku
05 :: ¥1.51 / $19.78 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: War Mega Max :: Dec '10 :: 1.30 :: TE :: TOEI
06 :: ¥1.47 / $19.11 :: Friends: Naki On Monster Island :: Dec '10 :: 1.10 :: TE :: Toho
07 :: ¥1.45 / $18.93 :: Shizanmono: The Movie :: Jan. :: 1.18 :: 30 :: Toho
08 :: ¥1.43 / $18.72 :: Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto :: Dec '10 :: 1.13 :: TE :: TOEI
09 :: ¥1.42 / $18.60 :: Real Steel :: Dec '10 :: 1.11 :: TE :: Walt Disney
10 :: ¥1.39 / $18.17 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '10 :: 1.15 :: TE :: Toho
11 :: ¥1.16 / $15.05 :: Robo-G :: Jan. :: .996 :: 44 :: Toho
12 :: ¥1.12 / $14.58 :: Inazuma Eleven GO: The Movie :: Dec '10 :: .926 :: TE :: Toho

Just outside the Top 12... In Time is performing very well, grossing over ¥900 million after just 10 days and will enter the Top 12 (maybe the Top 10, too) next weekend. Full weekend results haven't been released yet, but In Time dropped only 15% it's second weekend to ¥237 million. ¥2 billion ($25 million) could be in play.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is also over ¥900 million after 17 days, but I don't know if it can enter the Top 12 before Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles zooms up the chart which opens this weekend.


Top Opening Weekends (2012)
Rank :: Revenue ¥ (million) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Admissions (thousand) :: Screen Count :: Distributor
01 :: ¥581.04 / $7.50 :: Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie :: Nov '10 :: 431.09 :: 446 :: Toho
02 :: ¥573.22 / $7.34 :: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol :: Dec '10 :: 437.75 :: 636 ::Paramount
03 :: ¥555.66 / $7.22 :: ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 :: Jan. :: 421.27 :: 473 :: Toho
04 :: ¥378.03 / $4.84 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: War Mega Max :: Dec '10 :: 333.13 :: 301 :: TOEI
05 :: ¥316.31 / $4.08 :: K-ON! The Movie :: Dec '10 :: 237.82 :: 137 :: Shochiku
06 :: ¥277.13 / $3.63 :: In Time :: Feb. :: 203.05 :: 427 :: FOX
07 :: ¥276.41 / $3.62 :: Shizanmono: The Movie :: Jan. :: 217.18 :: 377 :: Toho
08 :: ¥230.89 / $2.98 :: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo :: Feb. :: 178.36 :: 431 :: Sony
09 :: ¥225.05 / $2.88 :: Real Steel :: Dec '10 :: 176.25 :: 531 :: Walt Disney
10 :: ¥219.51 / $2.83 :: The Adventures of Tintin :: Dec '10 :: 148.70 :: 895 :: Toho-Towa
11 :: ¥202.39 / $2.63 :: Robo-G :: Jan. :: 164.69 :: 279 :: Toho
12 :: ¥163.59 / $2.09 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '10 :: 128.83 :: 414 :: Toho

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I doesn't come close to making the Top 12 opening weekends of the year, grossing just ¥84.50 ($1.06 million).

Next weekend could see all four wide openers (Doraemon 32, Hugo, War Horse, Liar Game 2) make the list, though. And Doraemon 32 should easily claim the 4th biggest opening so far this year (maybe 1st in admissions) with ¥450/500 million (about $6 million).

New Entry
TE (Tracking Ends)

Twilight with just over 1 million. Great.

Not really. I mean it's the second best opener in the series, but that isn't saying much.

Opening Weekends,

Twilight - ¥67,933,086 ($690,000), April 4-5, 2009
New Moon - ¥68,788,463 ($762,000), Nov. 28-29, 2009
Eclipse - ¥95,022,813 ($1.18 million), Nov. 6-7, 2010
Breaking Dawn Part I - ¥84,503,000 est. ($1.06 million est.), Feb. 25-26, 2012

The books nor the movies ever caught the Japanese audiences attention.

Opening this weekend is the latest Doraemon feature film, Nobita and the Island of Miracles, the 32nd release in the film franchise.



Doraemon has a long history of opening at the beginning of March to signal the start of Spring break for many kids and families. Doraemon also delivers big results at the box office, almost always debuting on top and usually finishing the year in, or near, the Top 10 Domestic Films.

Most Recent Films:

Year :: Title :: Opening Weekend (Admissions) :: Final Total (Multiplier)
2011 :: Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops :: ¥446,318,074 (399,199) :: ¥2.46 billion (5.52x)
2010 :: Doraemon: Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King :: ¥553,483,841 (498,198) :: ¥3.16 billion (5.71x)
2009 :: Doraemon: The New Record of Nobita: Spaceblazer :: ¥373,250,790 (335,738) :: ¥2.45 billion (6.57x)
2008 :: Doraemon: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend :: ¥517,050,157 (462,283) :: ¥3.37 billion (6.51x)
2007 :: Doraemon: Nobita's New Great Adventure into the Underworld :: ¥559,412,464 (501,500) :: ¥3.54 billion (6.33x)

Looking up Doraemon's past openings got me interested in how much the franchise has earned over time, which then peaked my interested in other franchises and their box office earnings.

So here is the list:

Biggest Film Franchises in Japan (¥25 billion+):

Harry Potter :: ¥96.57 billion (8 Films)
Pokemon :: ¥64.88 billion (14 Films)
Doraemon :: ¥64.14 billion (31 Films)
Star Wars :: ¥40.04 billion (6 Films)
Detective Conan :: ¥38.06 billion (15 Films)
Pirates of the Caribbean :: ¥36.59 billion (4 Films)
Bayside Shakedown :: ¥34.76 billion (3 Films)
Jurassic Park :: ¥27.48 billion (3 Films)
The Lord of the Rings :: ¥27.29 billion (3 Films)
The Matrix :: ¥26.40 billion (3 Films)

Harry Potter is, of course, finished and will remain on top for several years.

Pokemon, Doraemon, and Detective Conan receive new releases every year and will continue to steadily increase. Pokemon grosses more than the other two, and will eventually overtake Harry Potter but it will take 6-8 more years.

Bayside Shakedown has it's fourth, and final, film opening later this year and should move ahead of Star Wars, Detective Conan, and Pirates of the Caribbean until the latter two franchises see new releases (every year Conan's case).

Corpse:

In fact, I wrote it was great because its low opening, but thanks for responding my first post, I didn't knew the past openings for the Twilight movies in Japan, hehehe, interesting how in a big market this franchise wasn't big.

--

Cheers to the Pokemon franchise! What a box office track.

Pokemon had a low point in admissions in the past, but the franchise film has been recovering in recent years. What is the reason, for this improvement we can attribute to?

Ah, sorry for my english, hehehe.

I wouldn't say Pokemon has really had a low point, if any though, it was the end of the Original Series (Gen 2) and parts of the Advanced Generation (Gen 3) era.

I actually posted this History last summer, so here it is again edited to include the most recent film:

Box Office History
Year :: Title :: Revenue ¥ (billion) / Revenue $ (million) :: Admissions


Original Series (Episodes 1-274):

1998 :: Mewtwo Strikes Back :: ¥7.54 / $77.8 :: 6.54 million
1999 :: The Power of One :: ¥6.36 / $64.8 :: 5.60 million
2000 :: Spell of the Unown :: ¥4.85 / $45.7 :: 4.50 million
2001 :: Celebi: Voice of the Forest :: ¥3.90 / $32.5 :: 3.63 million
2002 :: Pokemon Heroes :: ¥2.67 / $21.8 :: 2.55 million

Total: ¥25.32 / $242.6 - 22.8 million admissions




Advanced Generation (Episodes 275-466):

2003 :: Jirachi: Wishmaker :: ¥4.50 / $38.4 :: 4.28 million
2004 :: Destiny Deoxys :: ¥4.38 / $39.1 :: 4.16 million
2005 :: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew :: ¥4.30 / $38.9 :: 4.10 million
2006 :: Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea :: ¥3.40 / $28.2 :: 3.23 million

Total: ¥16.58 / $144.6 - 15.8 million admissions




Diamond & Pearl (Episodes 467-657):

2007 :: The Rise of Darkrai :: ¥5.02 / $47.2 :: 4.78 million
2008 :: Giratina and the Sky Warrior :: ¥4.80 / $53.3 :: 4.66 million
2009 :: Arceus and the Jewel of Life :: ¥4.67 / $51.6 :: 4.40 million
2010 :: Zoroark: Master of Illusions :: ¥4.16 / $50.3 :: 3.97 million

Total: ¥18.65 / $202.4 - 17.7 million admissions.




Best Wishes (Episodes 658 - Present):

2011 :: White - Victini and Zekrom / Black - Victini and Reshiram :: ¥4.33 / $56.1 :: 4.13 million
2012 :: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman: Keldeo :: Coming July 14.

(And Welcome to WOKJ!)