The first major release of the 2012 calendar year opens this weekend, ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64. This is the third film in the series, and the first to open in 3D.

[Trailer]


Always 3 will follow the lives of Third Street's residents during the Olympics and economic changes of 1964.

[ALWAYS] Box Office History:
Release, Title - Opening Weekend, Screens -> Final Total.
Nov. 05, ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street - ¥215,270,772 ($ 1.8 million), 271 Screens -> ¥3.28 billion ($26.3 million).
Nov. 07, ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street 2 - ¥548,099,854 ($4.8 million), 330 Screens -> ¥4.56 billion ($42.9 million).

I think Always 3 will have a similar opening as Always 2 (¥500-600 million, $6.5-7.5 million, or perhaps a little higher with the 3D boost), and finish with a total between the first two films (¥3.5-4 billion, $45-52 million). And depending on how a few films aiming for a similar total in the summer and fall perform, Always 3 could sneak into the Yearly Top 10.

[Local Studio Market Share - 2011]

1. Toho - ¥59,111,105,930 ($768 million), 69%
2. TOEI - ¥16,732,959,343 ($218 million), 20%
3. Shochiku - ¥9,750,186,500 ($127 million), 11%

Total - ¥85,594,251,773 ($1.12 billion).

The three studios above are the major local distributors in Japan. No data for the smaller studios (Asmik Ace, Kadokawa Pictures, Gaga) has been released yet.

Official Production Blog launched for Bayside Shakedown 4: The FINAL.

The Film Series (including a couple spin-off films) has brought in about 31,270,000 admissions, with revenue reaching ¥42.79 billion [something near $350 million if you add up what each film grossed in USD].

The final movie in the film series, and the conclusion to the entire franchise, opens in September.

http://eiga.com/news/20120119/5/

Resident Evil: Retribution is set to open September 14th, essentially giving it a 4-Day weekend with Monday being a Holiday. Afterlife opened well above expectations in the exact same spot in 2010.


[Resident Evil] Box Office History:
Release, Title - Opening Weekend -> Final Total.

Aug. 02, Resident Evil - ¥187,939,379 ($1.6 million) -> ¥2.30 billion ($17.9 million)
Sept. 04, Resident Evil: Apocalypse - ¥646,718,050 ($5.9 million) -> ¥2.70 billion ($24.0 million)
Nov. 07, Resident Evil: Extinction - ¥598,183,071 ($5.2 million) -> ¥2.85 billion ($25.1 million)
Sept. 10, Resident Evil: Afterlife - ¥698,560,636 ($8.3 million) / ¥1,310,884,220 ($15.6 million) 3-Day plus previews -> ¥4.70 billion ($56.8 million)

TOTAL REVENUE: ¥12.55 billion ($124 million).

Retribution is a candidate for a Yearly Top 10 spot.

ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street 64' performed 6.2% better in early ticket sales compared to A Ghost of a Chance last October.

Ghost opened with 390,102 admissions (¥503 million), so ALWAYS is looking good for 400,000+ this weekend so far. 400-450,000 admissions would likely give it ¥525-575 million (about $7 million) this weekend, but anything over 450,000 admissions and it could break ¥600 million (almost $8 million) for the weekend. 3D will also have an effect, but since the film skews old, the percentage could be under 60%. We'll see.

And an opening over ¥550 million should equal a final total of at least ¥4 billion ($50 million).

January 21-22, 2012
Weekend Forecast



1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64'* (Toho) Week 1
2 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6
3 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
4 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
5 Magical Tree House (Gaga) Week 3
6 My Way (TOEI) Week 2
7 Johnny English Reborn (Toho-Towa) Week 1
8 Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto (TOEI) Week 5
9 Friends: Naki on Monster Island* (Toho) Week 6
10 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) Week 1

*2D/3D

There are a few other openers that could debut at the bottom of the Top 10, too, so don't be surprised if openers make up 5 or 6 films in the Top 10 this weekend. I just put You're My Pet there because it's opening the widest, 92 locations according to Yahoo, among the smaller openers.

Distributor Toho announced today that ALWAYS 3 will open (opened) on 473 screen nationwide. That's the third widest release ever for a local film.

Widest Releases - Local Films [Screen Count]

1. July 08, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea [481]
2. Sept.07, HERO [475]
3. Jan.12, ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 [473]
4. Sept.10, Umizaru 3: The Last Message [467]
5. Aug.10, Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Double & Decade Forever A-Z [460]

Saturday Data (for the Openers) from the Usual Locations has been reported:

ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 is still doing very well, improving 7.1% over A Ghost of a Chance opening day. ALWAYS 3 is targeting 400-450,000 admissions, meaning 500 million ($6.5 million) is the minimum it grosses this weekend.

And I think it can go over ¥600 million+ (about $8 million) though when 3D sales are factored in. If the kid/family friendly Kaibutsu-Kun and Friends: Naki on Monster Island can manage avg. ticket prices of about ¥1,350 ($17.50) with 3D tickets, the much older skewing Always 3 should have no problem getting ¥1,400 ($18.25)+.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie is performing well ahead of last January's Sentai Gokaiger film and may even double it's opening, resulting in ¥230 million+ ($3 million) or more for the weekend. Easily enough to debut in second place.

You're My Pet is also doing a bit better than expected, ahead 65.9% of We Wanna Build a School in Cambodia's opening day last September. That should give it ¥75 million+ (almost $1 million) this weekend, and a chance at a Top 5 debut.

No data was released for Johnny English Reborn, which is usually a bad sign. But let's wait and see if it's included in the weekend data tomorrow.

Rough Weekend Projections using the Saturday Data released by the Usual Locations (10/15% of the Market):

Jan. 21-22, 2012
1 ALWAYS 3 (Toho) ¥600 million+ ($7.7 million+), NEW
2 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan (TOEI) ¥230 million+ ($2.9 million+), NEW
3 Robo-G (Toho) ¥155 million+ ($2.0 million+), Week 2
4 M:I4 (Paramount) ¥135 million+ ($1.8 million+), Week 6
5 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) ¥75 million+ ($950,000+), NEW
6 Magical Tree House (Gaga) ¥64 million+ ($825,000+), Week 3
7 My Way (TOEI) ¥45 million+ ($575,000+), Week 2
8 Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto (TOEI) ¥38 million+ ($475,000+), Week 5
9 Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) ¥36 million+ ($450,000+), Week 6
10 Inazuma Eleven GO ¥27 million+ ($325,000+), Week 5

Again, no data for Johnny English Reborn, but a debut in the bottom half of the Top 10 shouldn't be difficult.

It's exciting that 2012 probably has another ¥4 billion+ ($50 million+) grossing film so early in the year.

Adjusted Projections using the Weekend Data

Jan. 21-22, 2012
1 ALWAYS 3 (Toho) ¥565-615 million ($7.2-8 million), NEW
2 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan (TOEI) ¥215-240 million ($2.7-3.1 million), NEW
3 Robo-G (Toho) ¥140-150 million ($1.8-2 million), Week 2
4 M:I4 (Paramount) ¥125-135 million ($1.6-1.7 million), Week 6
5 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) ¥70-75 million ($900-975,000), NEW
6 Magical Tree House (Gaga) ¥60-65 million ($775-850,000), Week 3
7 Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto (TOEI) ¥35-40 million ($450-525,000), Week 5
8 Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) ¥35-40 million ($450-525,000), Week 6
9 My Way (TOEI) ¥30-35 million ($375-450,000), Week 2
10 Kaibutsu-Kun (Toho) ¥20-25 million ($250-325,000), Week 9

3D represented just 34.7% of ALWAYS 3's ticket sales, but a rough calculation should still put the avg. ticket price near or above ¥1,400 which will decide if it broke ¥600 million or not. It dropped about 3% on Sunday.

Terrible for My Way, possibly dropping 60% in it's second weekend. Second Weekend drops over 60% are very, very rare. Only one or two films accomplished this feat last year.

Kaibutsu-Kun barely edges out Inazuma Eleven GO to maybe have a ninth week in the Top 10.

And there was still no data released for Johnny English Reborn. Either it was released on far fewer screens than expected to where data couldn't be collected (weird if so because Toho-Towa is the distributor), or it bombed I would guess.

January 21-22, 2012
Weekend Rankings by Location
(Toho, Shikoku, Warner, Sunshine)

[Toho]
1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 1
2 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) Week 1
3 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
4 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6
5 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
6 Johnny English Reborn (Toho-Towa) Week 1
7 Magical Tree House (Gaga) Week 3
8 Inazuma Eleven GO: The Movie (Toho) Week 5
9 Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) Week 6
10 Tale of Genji (Toho) Week 7

[Warner]
1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 1
2 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
3 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
4 Magical Tree House (Gaga) Week 3
5 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6

[Sunshine]
1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 1
2 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
3 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6
4 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
5 Magical Tree House (Gaga) Week 3

[Shikoku]
1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 1
2 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
3 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
4 Magical Tree House (Gaga) Week 3
5 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) Week 1
6 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6
7 Johnny English Reborn (Toho-Towa) Week 1
8 K-ON! The Movie (Shochiku) Week 8
9 Inazuma Eleven Go: The Movie (Toho) Week 5
10 Himizu (Gaga) Week 2

Having failed to rank on any charts so far, My Way may have fallen outside the Top 10 since Johnny English Reborn finally decided to show himself.

If My Way actually does manage to fall out of the Top 10 it's second week after a Top 3 debut last weekend, I'll do some research to see when the last time something similar occurred. I know it hasn't been in the past 3/4 years though.

January 21-22, 2012
Weekend Ranking (Admissions and Revenue)



[Admission Ranking]
1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 1
2 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
3 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
4 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6
5 Magical Tree House (Gaga) Week 3
6 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) Week 1
7 Johnny English Reborn (Toho-Towa) Week 1
8 Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto (TOEI) Week 5
9 My Way (TOEI) Week 2
10 Inazuma Eleven GO: The Movie (Toho) Week 5

ALWAYS 3 attracted 421,274 moviegoers over the weekend on 473 screens. 37%, or 155,665 people chose to see the film on 3D screens (399 screens), and 63%, or 265,609 people sought out the film on it's few 2D screens (74 screens).

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan set a franchise high with 159,227 admissions on 263 screens over the weekend. That's 41% more than 2010's film, and 7.4% above the previous highest attended Sentai Gokaiger film.

Johnny English Reborn debuted on 126 screens to 39,371 admissions.



[Revenue Ranking]
1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) Week 1
2 Robo-G (Toho) Week 2
3 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (TOEI) Week 1
4 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) Week 6
5 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) Week 1

ALWAYS 3 grossed ¥555,663,750 ($7.2 million), improving 1.9% over ALWAYS 2's opening weekend. 84% of it's screens were 3D, but only 43% of it's gross (¥239,134,800 ($3.1 million)) came from those screens. Toho is projecting a total of ¥5 billion ($65 million), but they almost always overproject. A total of ¥4 billion+ ($52 million+) will be the target.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan grossed ¥160,750,000 ($2.1 million). The avg. ticket price barely broke ¥1,000 (¥1,009 or $13), which is even lower than kid/family films. Either advance ticket sales were very high this year (advanced tickets go for ¥800 or $10), or it skewed much younger than previous films in the franchise.

Johnny English Reborn grossed ¥51,078,800 ($665,000), down 40% from the last Mr. Bean movie.

ALWAYS 3's Age and Gender Breakdown:

-AGE
50+ (23.8%)
40'+ (36.2%)
30+ (22.3%)
20+ (13.2%)
Under 20 (4.5%)

-GENDER
Male (62%)
Female (38%)

AlarmTV announced A Ghost of a Chance finished it's impressive run with 4.27 billion yen, thus completing the Top 10 Films of 2011.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Warner Bros.) ¥9.60b ($124.43m)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Walt Disney) ¥8.85b ($114.71m)
3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) ¥6.80b ($88.14m)
4. From Kokuriko Hill (Toho) ¥4.46b ($57.81m)
5. Pokemon 14: Best Wishes: Victini and Zekrom / Victini and Reshiram (Toho) ¥4.33b ($56.12m)
6. A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) ¥4.27b ($55.35m)
7. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Paramount) ¥4.25b ($55.09m)
8. Space Battleship Yamato (Toho) ¥4.10b ($53.14m)
9. Gantz (Toho) ¥3.45b ($44.72m)
10. SP: The Motion Picture 2 (Toho) ¥3.39b ($43.94m)

You can find the 2011 chart above along with previous years, if interested or wanting comparisons, in the first post of this thread. 2011 Statistics should be released any day now, too.

January 21-22, 2012
Weekend Results



1 ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 (Toho) ¥555,663,172 ($7,219,224), 0, ¥555,663,172 ($7,219,224), Week 1
2 Robo-G (Toho) ¥176,028,615 ($2,286,977), -13%, ¥517,988,696 ($6,729,748), Week 2
3 Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (Toho) ¥160,856,245 ($2,089,856), 0, ¥160,856,245 ($2,089,856), Week 1
4 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Paramount) ¥150,809,879 ($1,959,333), -26%, ¥4,773,867,512 ($62,022,443), Week 6
5 You're My Pet (Toho-Towa) ¥68,764,340 ($893,391), 0, ¥68,764,340 ($893,391), Week 1
6 Magical Tree House (Gaga) ¥67,637,345 ($878,749), -11%, ¥341,514,349 ($4,436,980), Week 3
7 Johnny English Reborn (Toho-Towa) ¥51,078,346 ($663,617), 0, ¥51,078,346 ($663,617), Week 1
8 Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto (TOEI) ¥43,553,574 ($565,851), -33%, ¥1,311,700,008 ($17,041,704), Week 5
9 My Way (TOEI) ¥42,448,019 ($551,487), -50%, ¥213,071,388 ($2,768,239), Week 2
10 Friends: Naki on Monster Island (Toho) ¥33,719,124 ($438,081), -47%, ¥1,416,395,614 ($18,401,917), Week 6

The Box Office Charts were looking too cluttered again, so I cleaned them up and edited the list so that they're much easier to read:

Top Grossing Films (2012)
Rank :: Revenue ¥ (billion) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Admissions (million) :: Days In Release :: Distributor
01 :: ¥4.77 / $62.02 :: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol :: Dec '10 :: 3.75 :: 38 :: Paramount
02 :: ¥3.06 / $39.78 :: Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie :: Nov '10 :: 2.29 :: 58 :: Toho
03 :: ¥1.56 / $20.26 :: K-ON! The Movie :: Dec '10 :: 1.19 :: 51 :: Shochiku
04 :: ¥1.50 / $19.54 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max :: Dec '10 :: 1.29 :: 44 :: TOEI
05 :: ¥1.42 / $18.40 :: Friends: Naki On Monster Island :: Dec '10 :: 1.07 :: 37 :: Toho
06 :: ¥1.41 / $18.28 :: Real Steel :: Dec '10 :: 1.10 :: 45 :: Walt Disney
07 :: ¥1.33 / $17.30 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '10 :: 1.11 :: 44 :: Toho
08 :: ¥1.31 / $17.04 :: Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto :: Dec '10 :: 1.00 :: 31 :: TOEI
09 :: ¥1.09 / $14.18 :: Inazuma Eleven GO: The Movie :: Dec '10 :: .888 :: 31 :: Toho
10 :: ¥1.09 / $14.16 :: The Adventures of Tintin :: Dec '10 :: .754 :: 53 :: Toho-Towa
11 :: ¥.608 / $7.90 :: Wild 7 :: Dec '10 :: .483 :: 33 :: Warner Bros.
12 :: ¥.556 / $7.22 :: ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 :: Jan. :: .421 :: 2 :: Toho

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: Movie 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 :: ¥225.05 / $2.88 :: Real Steel :: Dec '10 :: 176.25 :: 531 :: Walt Disney
07 :: ¥219.51 / $2.83 :: The Adventures of Tintin :: Dec '10 :: 148.70 :: 895 :: Toho-Towa
08 :: ¥202.39 / $2.63 :: Robo-G :: Jan. :: 164.69 :: 279 :: Toho
09 :: ¥163.59 / $2.09 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '10 :: 128.83 :: 414 :: Toho
10 :: ¥160.87 / $2.08 :: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger vs. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie :: Jan. :: 159.23 :: TOEI
11 :: ¥150.79 / $1.93 :: Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto :: Dec '10 :: 124.97 :: 308 :: TOEI
12 :: ¥141.68 / $1.81 :: Friends: Naki On Monster Island :: Dec '10 :: 103.89 :: 334 :: Toho

2011 Statistics are being announced by the Eiren, Motion Picture Association of Japan.

The first results was the 2011 Total Box Office Receipts, grossing ¥181.197 billion ($2.34 billion). The Total Number of Admissions was 144,726,000. That's a decline of 17.9% from 2010, due to no uberblockusters (10 billion+) and a decrease in screens due to the Earthquake - but that's still good enough to claim the title as biggest overseas market again.

http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/2006236/
http://www.eiren.org/index.html

The complete list of films, both Japanese and Imported, that grossed more than ¥1 billion is coming up.

In addition to the above, Japanese Films grossed ¥99.531 billion ($1.29 billion) or 54.9% vs Imported Films grossing ¥81.666 billion ($1.06 billion) or 45.1%.

This is the fourth consecutive year Japanese Films have outgrossed Imported fare.

Number of Films Released totaled 799, up 83 or 12% from 2010.

Japanese films made up 441 or 55.2% of the total, with Imported films making up 358 or 44.8%. And the avg. ticket price was 1,252 ($16.22), down 1% from 2010.

2011 Films exceeding 1 billion yen:

[JAPANESE FILMS]

July, 1 From Kokuriko Hill (Toho) 4.46 billion ($57.81 million)
July, 2 Pokemon: Best Wishes: Victini and Zekrom / Victini and Reshiram (Toho) 4.33 billion ($56.12 million)
Oct., 3 A Ghost of a Chance (Toho) 4.28 billion ($55.47 million)
Dec.10, 4 Space Battleship Yamoto (Toho) 4.10 billion ($53.14 million)
Jan., 5 Gantz (Toho) 3.45 billion ($44.72 million)
Dec.10, 6 SP: The Motion Picture 2 (Toho) 3.33 billion ($42.77 million)
Dec.10, 7 Partners: The Movie 2 (TOEI) 3.18 billion ($41.21 million)
April, 8 Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence (Toho) 3.15 billion ($40.83 million)
April, 9 Gantz: Perfect Answer (Toho) 2.82 billion ($36.55 million)
Mar., 10 Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops (Toho) 2.46 billion ($31.89 million)
Sept., 11 Unfair: The Answer (Toho) 2.34 billion ($30.33 million)
Sept., 12 Moteki (Toho) 2.22 billion ($28.78 million)
Aug., 13 God's Medical Record (Toho) 1.89 billion ($24.50 million)
June, 14 Andalucia: Goddess of Retribution (Toho) 1.88 billion ($24.37 million)
Dec.10, 15 Inazuma Eleven: The Great Ogre Army (Toho) 1.77 billion ($22.94 miillion)
Aug., 16 Kamen Rider OOO vs Gokaiger: The Movie (TOEI) 1.76 billion ($22.81 million)
May, 17 Peak: The Rescuers (Toho) 1.63 billion ($21.13 million)
May, 18 Princess Toyotomi (Toho) 1.62 billion ($20.99 million)
Nov., 19 Kaiji 2 (Toho) 1.61 billion ($20.87 million)
Feb., 20 Oba, The Last Samurai (Toho) 1.57 billion ($20.34 million)
Dec.10, 21 Abacus and Sword (Shochiku, Asmik Ace) 1.50 billion ($19.44 million)
Dec.10, 22 Norwegian Wood (Toho) 1.40 billion ($18.15 million)
June, 23 Paradise Kiss (Warner Bros.) 1.39 billion ($18.01 million)
Dec.10, 24 Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider OOO & W Featuring Skull (TOEI) 1.38 billion ($17.89 million)
April, 25 Let's Go Kamen Riders (TOEI) 1.33 billion ($17.24 million)
April, 26 Rebirth (Shochiku) 1.24 billion ($16.07 million)
Jan., 27 1,778 Stories of Me and My Wife (Toho) 1.23 billion ($15.94 million)
Sept., 28 Bar Detectives (TOEI) 1.22 billion ($15.81 million)
April, 29 Crayon Shin-chan (Toho) 1.20 billion ($15.55 million)
April, 30 Hankyu Railway - A 15 Minute Miracle (Toho) 1.14 billion ($14.78 million)
Feb., 31 Tomorrow's Joe (Toho) 1.10 billion ($14.26 million)
Mar., 32 Pretty Cure All Stars DX3 - Rainbow Flower to the Future (TOEI) 1.02 billion ($13.22 million)

[IMPORTED FILMS]

July, 1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (Warner Bros) 9.67 billion ($125.34 million)
May, 2 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Walt Disney) 8.87 billion ($114.97 million)
Nov.10, 3 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) 6.86 billion ($88.92 million)
July, 4 Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Paramount) 4.25 billion ($55.09 million)
July, 5 Cars 2 (Walt Disney) 3.01 billion ($39.01 million)
Feb., 6 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Fox) 2.69 billion ($34.87 million)
Mar., 7 Tangled (Walt Disney) 2.56 billion ($33.18 million)
Oct., 8 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Fox) 2.42 billion ($31.37 million)
May, 9 Black Swan (Fox) 2.39 billion ($30.97 million)
Dec.10, 10 TRON: Legacy (Walt Disney) 2.12 billion ($27.48 million)
Oct., 11 The Three Musketeers (Gaga) 1.95 billion ($25.28 million)
Mar., 12 The Tourist (Sony) 1.87 billion ($24.23 million)
Feb., 13 The King's Speech (Gaga) 1.82 billion ($23.59 million)
June, 14 Super 8 (Paramount) 1.72 billion ($22.29 million)
April, 15 Gulliver's Travels (Fox) 1.56 billion ($20.22 million)
Oct., 16 Fast Five (Toho-Towa) 1.44 billion ($18.66 million)
Jan., 17 The Social Network (Sony) 1.42 billion ($18.40 million)
Sept., 18 One Life (Avex) 1.25 billion ($16.20 million)
Jan., 19 Red (Walt Disney) 1.22 billion ($15.81 million)
Jan., 20 Unstoppable (Fox) 1.08 billion ($13.99 million)
Aug., 20 Kung Fu Panda 2 (Paramount) 1.08 billion ($13.99 million)
Dec.10, 22 Shrek Forever After (Paramount) 1.00 billion ($12.96 million)

http://www.eiren.org/boxoffice_e/index.html

Review:


2011 was a rough year at the Box Office with the terrible Earthquake, but 2012 is already off to a strong start with Kaibutsu-Kun, Mission: Impossible, Always 3, and will see a significant increase over 2011.

Black Swan and Three Musketeers are surprise standouts in that 2011 list.

Though ticket sales were the lowest since 2000, the earthquake would have had a massive impact so its not too bad.