Variety has Iron Man 2 opening to $3.8m. I read pre-sales were doing well some weeks ago, and this opening is almost double the originals. Very positive considering Transformers 2 (if one uses it as a comparison) saw a sharp drop from the original.

The opening for Iron Man 2 should lead it to a total in the high teens, though $20m might be in reach if it can maintain it's screens during the very crowded July this year. The original finished just below $10m.

Great!

I still don't know why IM1 was so weak in Japan. I thought people were into the robot thing there...

6/12-13
Weekend Rankings



1 1 Confessions Toho 2
2 NEW Iron Man 2 Paramount 1
3 3 Sex and the City 2 WB 2
4 NEW Outrage WB/Office Kitano 1
5 2 Kamen Rider Den O Trilogy Episode Blue TOEI 2
6 4 Alice in Wonderland Disney 9
7 5 A Lone Scalpel TOEI 2
8 NEW FLOWERS Toho 1
9 6 Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time Disney 3
10 8 Railways Shochiku 3


Very incredible for Confessions. It increased from last weekend and it opened wide, so I doubt it added any screens. 200,523 admissions this weekend for just over $3m.

Iron Man 2 increased by 20,000 admissions over the original for the 2day, for an estimated $3.8m 3day. So the weekend number should be around $2.8/2.9m.

Sex and the City 2 kept 86% of it's audience compared to last weekend for about $1.7m. Great hold even if it's because of the friday opening it had.

The much buzzed about and critically acclaimed Outrage opened on 155 screens for 106,138 admissions.

Openers this Week




6/16
Yurikonoaroma

6/19
Michael Jackson This Is It (re-release), Sin Nombre, The Spy Next Door, Book of Eli, Halloween II, Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Episode Yellow, FURUSATO 3D, Soft Boy


Coming Soon:

I haven't reported on any news concerning The Cove, but some theaters in Tokyo recently decided not to show the film, which opens on June 26th. Jason Gray (ScreenDaily correspondent in Tokyo) posted this on his blog a few days ago about the issue:

Debate on suppression of The Cove finally begins in earnest

I was going to add a second update to my June 3rd entry on the cancellation of The Cove's Tokyo screenings but the developments of the past few days really deserve their own post.

Finally, the controversy over The Cove has moved away, or rather graduated from, being about dolphin hunts and other specifics of the film to a larger debate on censorship and suppression. This happened in large part due to Shinoda Hiroyuki, chief editor of a media-centric monthly publication entitled Tsukuru (月刊 『創』). Shinoda organized a June 9 screening in Nakano of The Cove which was seen by some 600 attendees. The event was summarized in this AP article. Despite a police presence, there were no protests to be heard, just some peaceful pamphleteering. I spend a fair amount of time in Nakano but can't ever recall seeing gaisensha roll down Nakano-dôri.

Prior to the screening, a list of prominent journalists, scholars, artists and filmmakers signed a petition against the suppression of the film -- an issue altogether separate from whatever each signee may have thought of the The Cove personally. The list (Japanese only) was reproduced on the blog of talented documentary filmmaker Sôda Kazuhiro (Campaign, Mental), whose own name is included.

Earlier today, The Japan Times reported in more depth about the views expressed after the screening including those of well-known rightist Suzuki Kunio of Issui-kai, an org you may remember from the hooplah over Yasukuni (see my April 19 2008 entry). I have to give Suzuki credit for the common sense he displayed:

If [rightists] can't forgive the movie (for disgracing Japan,) they should let everybody see the movie and say 'See, this movie is horrible.' Not letting people watch the movie is anti-Japanese."

This will probably be the last entry I write about The Cove as the issue is being tracked by the international media now. I look forward to tweeting positive announcements about upcoming screenings and would like to say a big otsukaresama deshita to friend Miyuki Takamatsu at Unplugged for sticking with this effort from the very beginning.

http://jasongray.blogspot.com/2010/06/d ... nally.html



The issue of censorship and suppression of media has been making headlines this year in Japan. Not only regarding The Cove, but also what manga artists, animators, etc. can express in their work and if it's suitable for minors. The issue here deals with characters who appear to be under the age of 18. The bill finally reached committee recently, and was defeated.




Tokyo's Nonexistent Youth Bill Voted Down in Committee
2nd bill to restrict sexualized, "depicted youths" in manga, anime also defeated


The General Affairs Committee of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has voted down the bill to regulate sexualized depictions of "nonexistent youths." The bill would prohibit sexualized depictions of "nonexistent youths" — such as in manga, anime, games, and other materials — from being sold to minors. Committee members from the Democratic Party of Japan (the largest faction in the assembly), the Japanese Communist Party, and the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network party voted against the bill. According to the Asahi Shimbun paper, the bill also faces defeat before the entire assembly on Wednesday.

The bill is supported by the Liberal Democratic Party, which is the second largest faction in the assembly and the party of Tokyo's current governor, Shintarō Ishihara. The LDP and its New Komeito Party ally introduced a second version of the bill that attempted to clarify its vague, convoluted language. Among other changes, the second version replaced the newly invented term "nonexistent youth" with "depicted youth"; Governor Ishihara himself said in May that the term "nonexistent youth" makes people wonder, "Are they talking about ghosts or something?" However, the second version of the bill was also voted down in committee.

The last time that a bill presented by any Tokyo governor was defeated in the assembly was in 1988. The Tokyo Metropolian Government's Office for Youth Affairs and Public Safety aims to revise and re-introduce the bill in the assembly's September session.

The Democratic Party of Japan, Japanese Communist Party, and Tokyo Seikatsusha Network have 53, 8, and 3 assembly seats, respectively — enough for a slim majority out of 127 seats to defeat the current bill. The lone member of the Jichi Shimin '93 faction also opposes the bill. By contrast, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito Party have 38 and 23 seats, respectively.

Like most prefecture-level governments in Japan, Tokyo already has an existing Youth Healthy Development Ordinance to prohibit the sale of "harmful publications" to minors. The Tokyo Metropolian Government's bill would specify that such "harmful publications" would include sexualized yet non-explicit materials that do not involve actual people. 1,421 manga creators, 10 publishing companies, the Japan Pen Club, the Japan Cartoonists Association, and the Writers Guild of Japan voiced their opposition to the bill.

On June 4, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki issued a statement about the bill on the studio's official blog. Suzuki declared that regardless of the outcome of the bill, Studio Ghibli will have faith in and obey the local law as it continues to produce works.

http://mainichi.jp/select/today/news/20 ... tml?inb=tw

Very solid for Iron Man 2. $10+ million is a lock then.

6/12-13, 2010
Weekend Analysis



1. Confessions Toho $3,078,318 2 266 $11,573 +5 $9,757,052
2. Iron Man 2 Paramount Int'l $2,886,099 1 414 $6,971 0 $3,744,288
3. Sex And The City 2 Warner Bros. International $1,795,278 2 401 $4,477 -13 $8,074,348
4. Outrage Warner Bros. International $1,585,031 1 155 $10,226 0 $1,585,031
5. Alice In Wonderland Walt Disney Int'l $1,075,045 9 455 $2,363 -47 $124,294,779
6. Masked Rider Den-O Trilogy The Movie Episode Blue TOEI $1,066,889 2 215 $4,962 -50 $3,714,476
7. Flowers Toho $599,358 1 301 $1,991 0 $599,358
8. A Lone Scalpel TOEI $575,656 2 256 $2,249 -29 $2,505,707
9. Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Walt Disney Int'l $466,119 3 362 $1,288 -45 $5,822,671
10. Trick The Movie Psychic Battle Royale Toho $458,388 6 310 $1,479 -43 $18,698,333


Amazing for Confessions. No theater gain, yet it increases and has more than tripled it's opening weekend in 9 days.

Solid opening for Iron Man 2. The original opened to about $2m and missed $10m total, but IM2 looks good for a total in the mid teens (I thought the initial 3.8m estimate was the weekend number when I suggested $20m total).

Strong hold for Sex and the City 2 even though the drop is deflated a bit due to last week's Friday opening. It's tracking ahead of the original, which went on to finish with about $16m.

Nice opening for Outrage, pulling in a PTA above 10,000.

Disney (or whoever is in charge of Alice in Wonderland) has dropped the ball. The DVD release date was announced before the weekend began, and as a result, several hundred of theaters dropped it.

In Japan, the announcement of a release date of a DVD, CD, etc. kills the ticket sales of the movie or single sales/downloads currently in release. Release dates for such things are normally announced just a week or two before the release. Announcing the release date a month ahead of time is just suicide. Now I know why the film lost all it's screens in the Shibuya discrict and only had a couple remaining in Osaka. $130m looks to be it's finish. Still very, very huge obviously, but Disney could have got at least $20m more out of it.

I recently emailed Mark Schilling who writes for the Japan Times and Variety, asking what his thoughts were on "Bayside Shakedown 3" and he told me he expects it to surpass last year's "Rookies" and wonders if it will match the Box Office of "Bayside Shakedown 2". He says the star, Yuji Oda, is starting to get bit of an age on him (42) so the new installment could lack some teen appeal, but knows the huge core base will return, and believes Toho and Fuji TV will continue to pull out all the PR stops in the final two weeks before the film's release.

And pull out all the PR stops is certainly what Toho and Fuji TV are doing. I posted last week that mini-episodes (totaling 73 minutes) that link to the third movie are being sent out to 50 million cell phone subscribers every Tuesday and Friday, but more marketing is underway:







In the first ad, if you purchase 4 advanced tickets for 5200 Yen ($58 USD) to the movie, you can receive the special poster tickets only available until July 1st.

And in the second ad, if you purchase an advanced ticket for 1800 Yen ($20 USD), you will receive the limited drinking cup and movie poster. This offer is also available until July 1st.

Last month, 160,000 tickets had been sold (for about $2.6m), but I haven't seen any updates on sales this month.

On top of this, the cast and crew plan to appear at 40 different locations opening day to greet fans. I don't know if this is a record, but this is more than double the appearances the cast and crew of Nodame Cantabile 2 made opening day back in April.

Not-So-Box Office News of the Week - V6

Weekly Manga Rankings - June 7-13




1 - Kimi ni Todoke #11 Karuho Shiina 473,058 473,058 Shueisha
2 1 One Piece #58 Eiichiro Oda 379,876 1,960,633 Shueisha
3 - Worst #24 Hiroshi Takahashi 175,012 175,012 Akita Shoten
4 3 D.Gray-man #20 Katsura Hoshino 141,141 382,501 Shueisha
5 2 Bleach #45 Tite Kubo 137,785 603,498 Shueisha
6 - Chihayafuru #9 Yuki Suetsugu 99,296 99,296 Kodansha
7 6 Kaichou wa Maid-sama! #10 Hiro Fujiwara 71,877 170,847 Hakusensha
8 - Hanma Baki - Son of Ogre #24 Keisuke Itagaki 68,923 68,923 Akita Shoten
9 7 Tegami Bachi [Letter Bee] #10 Hiroyuki Asada 53,043 139,190 Shueisha
10 - Kimi ni Todoke Fanbook Karuho Shiina 52,316 52,316 Shueisha


I'm posting Manga for the Non-Box Office News again this week because of Kimi ni Todoke Volume 11 coming in at No.1 (the pricey fanbook did well too) On Eiga.com, the live-action adaptation being distributed by Toho this September has remained on the charts for several months now. And Manga sales have been stronger over the past year (each volume has sold 1m or more copies).

So getting Toho to distribute the live-action adaptation this fall, it'll likely be a film to watch.

Update in local currency.


Info: 1b is generally seen as the success mark in the region. Eiren (Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan) will only include films that reached 1b or more in their yearly rankings, too.

Title/Yen Total/(Days in Release/tracking ends)

In Release:

Alice in Wonderland - 11,466,543,143 (58)
Nodame Cantabile The Movie II - 3,727,931,950 (58)
Detective Conan The Lost Ship in the Sky - 3,235,970,020 (58)
Trick the Movie 3 - 1,726,904,022 (37)
____________________________________________________________
Confessions - 900,977,600 (9)
Sex and the City 2 - 745,594,688 (10)
Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time - 537,706,839 (17)
Kamen Rider Episode Red - 502,992,011 (23)
Box! - 415,098,040 (23)
Iron Man 2 - 345,751,894 (3)
Kamen Rider Episode Blue - 342,999,040 (9)
Railways - 386,703,140 (17)
Zatoichi the Last - 337,163,295 (17)




2010 (Dec 09 included) Archive:



*Films below 250,000,000 are excluded.


Some films in the archive will go up because tracking became unavailable at some point, but they are in fact still in some theaters. Liar Game is a good example. It was reported to have crossed 2.4b Yen and it is still in release, but tracking stopped a few weeks ago.

6/19-20
Weekend Forecast

1 1 Confessions
2 NEW Kamen Rider Den O Trilogy Episode Yellow
3 2 Iron Man 2
4 3 Sex and the City 2
5 4 Outrage
6 NEW Book of Eli
7 5 Alice in Wonderland
8 8 A Lone Scalpel
9 NEW Michael Jackson's This Is It (Re-release)
10 9 Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time

Seat reservations for Bayside Shakedown the Movie 3 begins today. Reservations can be made from July 3rd - July 9th for advanced ticket attendees at all Toho Cinema locations. Showtimes: 10:00, 13:10, 16:20, 19:25, and 22:30.

1998, Bayside Shakedown: 7.1m admissions, Y10.1b ($85m or $111.5m today)
2003, Bayside Shakedown 2: 12.6m admissions, Y17.35b ($164.5m or $191.5m today)

Why is Michael Jackson's This Is It getting aa rerelease?

It's the second re-release actually, and this time because it's in preparation for the new Michael Jackson Commemorated Film opening on the 1 year Anniversary of his Death next weekend. Is Japan the only market getting it?

I haven't heard any other market yet which is giving this a re-release

I meant the new MJ film opening on the 25th.

oh sorry. Never heard of that before

The official website can only be viewed if you're in Japan (odd), but iMDB lists it here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1674093/ but only as a Japan release.

I guess it makes sense to only give it a Japanese release though. DVD and Blu Ray sales were huge for This Is It (eclipsing Avatar, and only second to Evangelion 2.0 this year), and it was the 5th biggest film of 2009:

Before these charts are totally altered in July with Bayside Shakedown (Toho), Pixar (Walt Disney Int'l), Pokemon (Toho), Studio Ghibli (Toho), Inception (WB), and Surely Someday (Shochiku) ( at July's releases), here is how 2010 looks so far:


Top 20 Films of 2010

1 Avatar Fox Int'l $166,371,800
2 Alice In Wonderland Walt Disney Int'l $126,528,768
3 Up Walt Disney Int'l $54,285,463
4 One Piece Strong World TOEI $53,195,074
5 Nodame Cantabile The Movie I Toho $44,322,317
6 Nodame Cantabile The Movie II Toho $40,032,794
7 Doraemon Nobita's South Sea Adventure Toho $34,796,716
8 Detective Conan The Lost Ship in the Sky Toho $34,707,649
9 Liar Game: The Final Stage Toho $26,160,537
10 Oceans GAGA $25,721,299

11 Sherlock Holmes WB $22,817,814
12 Younger Brother Shochiku $21,047,812
13 Trick The Movie: Psychic Battle Royale Toho $19,055,702
14 Shutter Island Paramount $18,288,305
15 Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Decade Movie TOEI $17,035,761
16 Clash of the Titans WB $16,408,584
17 Percy Jackson and the Olympians Fox Intl' $15,290,375
18 Crayon Shin-chan: The Super Dimension Toho $13,743,856
19 Pretty Cure DX2 All Stars TOEI $12,084,835
20 Gintama A New Retelling Movie WB $11,887,055

Toho - 7
WB - 3
TOEI - 3
Walt Disney Int'l - 2
Fox Int'l - 2
Shochiku - 1
GAGA - 1


Top 20 Opening Weekends of 2010

1. April, Alice in Wonderland (Disney) - $14.3m (2day), 859 screens - $16,644 pta, 828,149 admissions
2. Dec. 09, One Piece Strong World (TOEI) - $11.7m (2day), 188 screens - $62,192 pta, 822,314 admissions
3. Dec. 09, Up (Disney) - $7m (2day), 663 screens - $10,461 pta, 440,804 admissions
4. Dec. 09, Avatar (Fox) - $6.61m (2day)/$14.56m (5day), 839 screens - $7,881 pta
5. March, Doraemon South Sea Adventure (Toho) - $6.12m (2day), 366 screens - $16,710 pta, 498,198 admissions
6. April, Nodame Cantabile: The Movie II (Toho) - $6.11m (2day), 410 screens - $14,915 pta, 437,613 admissions
7. April, Detective Conan Lost Ship in the Sky (Toho) - $6.1m (2day), 352 screens - $17,339 pta, 471,527 admissions
8. Dec. 09, Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider W & Dikeido (TOEI) - $5.01m (2day), 292 screens - $17,882 pta, 396,178 admissions
9. Dec. 09, Nodame Cantabile: The Movie I (Toho) - $4.36m (2day), 409 screens - $10,612 pta, 317,302 admissions
10. March, Liar Game: The Final Stage (Toho) - $4.33m (2day), 283 screens - $15,307 pta, 308,824 admissions

11. May, Trick the Movie: Psychic Battle Royale (Toho) - $4.0m (2day), 320 screens - $12,515, 270,705 admission
12. Jan., Oceans (Gaga) - $3.76m (2day)/$4.36m (3day), 303 screens - $12,483 pta, 280,726 admissions
13. March, Sherlock Holmes (WB) - $3.64m (2day)/$4.57m (3day), 441 screens - $8,392 pta
14. Feb., Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Fox) - $3.41m (2day)/$4.12m (3day), 561 screens - $5,976 pta
15. April, Crayon Shin-chan (Toho) - $2.95m (2day), 325 screens - $9,051 pta, 238,831 admissions
16. Shutter Island (Paramount) - $2.94m (2day)/$3.7m (3day), 442 screens - $6,646, 208,427 admissions
17. June, Confessions (Toho) - $2.93m (2day), 266 screens - $11,037 pta, 194,893 admissions
18. June, Iron Man 2 (Paramount) - $2.89m (2day)/$3.74m (3day), 414 screens - $6,971 pta
19. Jan., Younger Brother (Shochiku) - $2.62m (2day), 303 screens - $8,635 pta
20. May, Kamen Rider Den-O Trilogy the Movie Episode Red (TOEI) - $2.58m (2day), 209 screens - $12,360 pta, 199,381 admissions



Bold - Still In Release
Red - Local Release
Blue - Foreign Release

Admissions for the top chart will eventually be added. I have a few known figures, but I'm waiting for when I have at least half.

Even with tough competition I don't see Toy Story 3 making less than $55 million in Japan... Inception will be good for $40+in o ad Baysde Shakedown 3 is robably a lock for $150 million.

Having Totoro as a cameo (fairly long one at that) may spark some interest as well. I know many of the news article concerning Toy Story 3 mention it. Of course, audiences get Studio Ghibli's latest just a week after TS3.

The Box Office of Pokemon in Japan


Pokémon 12: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (Toho) $51.64m (Y4.67b)
Pokemon 11: Giratina and the Sky Warrior (Toho) $53.31m (Y4.8b)
Pokémon 10: The Rise of Darkrai (Toho) $47.19m (Y5.02b)
Pokemon 9: Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea (Toho) $30.80m (Y3.5b)
Pokemon 8: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew (Toho) $37.47m (Y4.3b)
Pokemon 7: Destiny Deoxys (Toho) $40.03m (Y4.38b)
Pokemon 6: Jirachi Wishmaker (Toho) $34.4m (Y3.22b)
Pokemon 5: Heroes Latios and Latias (Toho) $21.12m (Y2.31b)
Pokemon 4: Celebi: Voice of the Forest (Toho) $26.04m (Y2.77b)
Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown (Toho) $33.1m (Y3.7b)
Pokemon 2: The Power Of One (Toho) $38.61m (Y4.12b)
Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back (Toho) $45.5m (Y4.94b)


You can see a trend here. At first, the franchise was very big, but stready began to decline at the box office. Especially in 2005/2006, which were big slumps and transition points for the box office as a whole.

And it took 10 years before a film in the franchise topped the first movie. Pokémon 10: The Rise of Darkrai holds the record for highest grossing film in the franchise (in Yen, later topped by movies 11 and 12 in USD), while 12 holds the record for most advanced sales for an animated movie in the Guinness Book of Records, with 2,384,198 tickets sold (about $16m then).

The biggest openers in the series are Pokemon 10 (in Yen) and Pokemon 11 (in USD). Pokemon 10 pulled in Y1.15b ($9.2m), while Pokemon 11 grossed Y1.08b ($9.4m). For comparison, Pokemon 12 opened just over $7m.



This year, Pokemon 13: Ruler of Illusions: Zoroark opens July 10th. It will be the first movie to include pokemon from Generation 5. Interest and marketing for this year's film is more evident than for last year's and [as a promotion for this movie, in Japan everyone who preorders their tickets to the movie get to download a special alternate-colored version of Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, which when traded over to the upcoming Pokémon Black and White games activates an in game encounter with a special Zoroark that uses its Illusion ability to transform into the other legendary Pokémon. In addition, people who attend a theatrical presentation of the film in Japan will be able to download a special Celebi to their video game, which when transferred to Black or White will activate an encounter with a special Zorua]. - [Wiki]

Pokemon 13 opens a week after Bayside Shakedown 3, against Toy Story 3, and a week before Studio Ghibli's latest, so competition this year couldn't be more fierce. But the franchise is no stranger to big competition.

Pokemon 12 opened against Harry Potter 6, Pokemon 11 opened against Ponyo (yet delivered the biggest opening in USD for the franchise), and Pokemon 10 opened just a week before Harry Potter 5.

Prevous year's competition is still weak compared to this year's, but with big promotion, a loyal fanbase, and an introductory to the 5th Generation of Pokemon, look for it to still hold it's own and possibly top Toy Story 3 on opening weekend.

Weekend Admission Rankings
6/19-20



1 1 Confessions Toho 3
2 NEW Kamen Rider Den O Trilogy Episode Yellow TOEI 1
3 2 Iron Man 2 Paramount 2
4 3 Sex and the City 2 WB 3
5 NEW Book of Eli WB 1
6 4 Outrage WB 2
7 5 Alice in Wonderland Walt Disney 10
8 7 Flowers Toho 2
9 NEW Matataki Stardust 1
10 8 A Lone Scalpel TOEI 3

The critics favorite, Confessions, a story about a teacher out for revenge on her class on suspicions they were involved in her 4 year old daughter's death, remains the top film for the third week in a row. The film increased it's second weekend despite no screen gains, and no holiday help, to triple it's opening weekend... and it looks to have held extremely well in it's third week topping Kamen Rider, which likely grossed between 2-2.5m. Confessions will easily be the top grossing film this month.

The final film in the Kamen Rider Den O Trilogy opens at No.2, the same position Episodes Red and Blue.

Book of Eli sees a decent and expected debut.

I'm happy to see Matataki debut in the Top 10. It was expected to narrowly miss the Top 10, but thanks to Prince of Persia seeing a harsh drop out of the Top 10, and This Is It's second re-release being stunned by the DVD release, it made it. Michael will return to the Top 10 next weekend though with what appears to be a Japan exclusive theatrical release.


I'll have some numbers for select films later today.

So what is Confessions, a film with a medium theatrical release, taking the top spot from Alice in Wonderland when it opened, increasing it's second weekend to top Iron Man 2, and managing to keep the top spot against the last film in a popular fan trilogy? It only needs one more weekend at No.1 to claim the month of June all to itself.



The film is based on an award-winning novel written by rookie author and housewife Kanae Minato. Actress Takako Matsu (K-20, Villon’s Wife) plays a dedicated teacher at a junior high school who’s young daughter is found brutally murdered. Believing two of her own students are responsible, she decides to leave the school, but not before a final chilling confession to her class in which she informs them that she’s already enacted her plan for vengeance. A series of further confessions bring other incidents regarding students to light, leading up to a shocking plot twist.



A few fun trivia notes from AsiaMediaWiki:

-Based on Kanae Minato's 2008 best selling novel "Kokuhaku" (has sold 700,000+ copies to date).
-After reading the novel "Kokuhaku" director Tetsuya Nakashima wanted actress Takako Matsu to play the main role. Enough so that he said if Takako Matsu would not play the role he would not have made the film.
-Auditions were held for potential actors to play the students. Of which 34 were selected out of 1,000.

Review by JapanTime's Mark Schilling:

Confessions is unstoppable. It has increased yet again with no screen gains nor any type of holiday boost.

Weekend 1 - 194,893 admissions
Weekend 2 - 200,523 admissions
Weekend 3 - 210,102 admissions

It's about a 5% increase again, so another weekend above $3m. Should be about $3.25m. The total after 16 days is Y1.5b ($16.5m), exceeding 1m admissions. Almost doubling it's overall total in 7 days again. Quite incredible, and a nice breakout in this average June. $30m is locked up for this one.


Kamen Rider Den O Trilogy Episode Yellow - 175,702 admissions on 213 screens. A little below Episode Red's 199,381 admissions, but I believe it's above Episode Blue's which I unfortunately don't have. Anyway, 175,702 admissions should be about $2.25m, landing it right between Episode's Red and Blue.

Book of Eli - 77,935 admissions on 239 screens. Should be just over $1m.