Damn. I hope it does well when it comes out. It is performing very nicely in other Asian countries.

Ted coming first in Toho is a very good sign though Pi is ahead of it in majority of the other chains. I guess Pi will win the weekend eventually though come out lower on admissions from both Ted and Strawberry.

Warner Bros. Release Schedule 2013

Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent (02/01)
A Certain Magical Index (02/23)
Cloud Atlas (03/15)
Jack the Giant Slayer (3/22)
Straw Shield (04/26)
Gangster Squad (05/03)
The Great Gatsby (06/14)
Gintama: The Movie 2 (Early Summer)
Man of Steel (Summer)
Pacific Rim (Summer)
Unforgiven (09/13)
Black Butler: The Movie (Late 2013)
Seventh Son (Late 2013)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (12/13)

Warner Bros. will no longer be an exhibitor in Japan come March and will begin focusing more on the distribution of local films in the market. Aeon Group bought Warner's 50% share in the Warner Mycal cinema chain late last year.

Looking at Warner Bros. slate for this year, they're releasing an increased number of local films as expected. Of those, Straw Shield should do decently over Golden Week, Gintama will be a success with it's hardcore fanbase, Unforgiven (starring Ken Watanabe and a remake of the 1992 Clint Eastwood film) has potential, and Black Butler has it's fanbase that should provide solid results.

Distributing local films has proven very good for Warner Bros. in recent years, and just last year Rurouni Kenshin was their #1 film easily outgrossing their three biggest imported releases: Dark Shadows, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and The Dark Knight Rises.

No Bullet to the Head, I see..

01/26-27
Weekend Ranking

[Admissions]
1 (-) Strawberry Night (Toho) NEW!
2 (1) Ted (Toho-Towa) Week 2
3 (-) Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) NEW!
4 (2) Tokyo Family (Shochiku) Week 2
5 (3) Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) Week 6
6 (5) One Piece Film Z (Toei) Week 7
7 (4) Sentai Go-Busters vs. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (Toei) Week 2
8 (6) Hunter X Hunter: The Phantom Rouge (Toho) Week 3
9 (7) Looper (Gaga) Week 3
10 (14) Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo (T-Joy) Week 11
11 (8) Taken 2 (20th Century Fox) Week 3

[Revenue]
1 (1) Ted (Toho-Towa) Week 2
2 (-) Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) NEW!
3 (-) Strawberry Night (Toho) NEW!
4 (2) Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) Week 6
5 (3) Tokyo Family (Shochiku) Week 2

One of the best battles for 1st place in quite some time. Here is how it broke down:

Admissions:
1 Strawberry Night (Toho) 241,095
2 Ted (Toho-Towa) 222,895
3 Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) 219,536

Revenue:
1 Ted (Toho-Towa) ¥330,542,000 ($3.76 million) +1.3% over it's opening weekend.
2 Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) ¥329,795,700 ($3.75 million)
3 Strawberry Night (Toho) ¥317,935,400 ($3.61 million)


On an unrelated note, Toho released the final totals for their films last year so the full 2012 statistics should be released at any moment now.

2013 Box Office Charts
Updated as of Sunday, 01/27

Revenue :: Film :: Admissions :: Days in Release :: Distributor

¥10 billion ↨ Uber-Blockbuster Status (US ≈$500 million film)
¥8 billion ↨ (US ≈$400 million film)
>¥6.49 billion ($74.08 million) :: One Piece Film Z :: 5.39 million :: 44 :: Toei
¥6 billion ↨ (US ≈$300 million film)
>¥5.14 billion ($63.23 million) :: Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo :: 3.72 million :: 72 :: T-Joy
¥5 billion ↨ Blockbuster Milestone (US ≈ $250 million film)
¥4 billion ↨ (US ≈$200 million film)
>¥3.77 billion ($43.02 million) :: Les Miserables :: 2.89 million :: 38 :: Toho-Towa
¥3 billion ↨ Box Office Hit (US ≈$150 million film)
>¥2.79 billion ($32.02 million) :: 007: Skyfall :: 2.19 million :: 58 :: Sony
¥2 billion ↨ (US ≈$100 million film)
>¥1.73 billion ($19.97 million) :: Today, I Started Loving You :: 1.43 million :: 51 :: Toho
>¥1.63 billion ($18.81 million) :: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey :: 1.14 million :: 45 :: Warner Bros.
>¥1.14 billion ($13.25 million) :: Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider Fourze & Wizard :: 1.03 million :: Tracking Ends :: Toei
>¥1.12 billion ($12.93 million) :: Humanoid Monster, Bem :: 0.94 million :: 43 :: Toho
>¥1.06 billion ($12.13 million) :: Ted :: 0.73 million :: 10 :: Toho-Towa
¥1 billion ↑ Commercial Success (US ≈$50 million film)

-One Piece is still going strong after seven weeks. The only animated films that have earned more than it now are 6 Studio Ghibli films, 3 Pixar films, and 1 Pokemon film.
-Les Miserables draws closer to ¥4 billion and the ¥4.2 billion mark needed to become the highest grossing musical of all-time. That record will be claimed quite soon as the film is eyeing the ¥5 billion milestone.
-Skyfall lost a lot of screens this past weekend and doesn't have much left in it. However, it has easily surpassed the box office of every other Bond film ever released.
-Ted is already over ¥1 billion by more than tripling it's opening weekend. It may just have what it takes to reach ¥3 billion which is totally crazy and unprecedented for an imported-comedy (R-rated no less).

Top 5 Leggiest Performances (Wide-Releases since 2008)

Weekend Gross (% change) / Total Gross (% change) / Multiplier

1. Avatar (2010)
First Weekend: ¥597.3 million / ¥1.31 billion
Second Weekend: ¥678.8 million (+12%) / ¥3.24 billion (+247%) / 5.42x
Third Weekend: ¥636.8 million (-6%) / ¥4.67 billion (+44%) / 7.82x
Fourth Weekend: ¥510.1 million (-20%) / ¥5.93 billion (+27%) / 9.93x
Fifth Weekend: ¥518.4 million (+2%) / ¥7.00 billion (+18%) / 11.73x
Sixth Weekend: ¥617.4 million (+19%) / ¥8.29 billion (+18%) / 13.88x

2. Les Miserables (2013)
First Weekend: ¥295.4 million / ¥379.1 million
Second Weekend: ¥256.8 million (-13%) / ¥1.13 billion (+298%) / 3.83x
Third Weekend: ¥287.1 million (+11%) / ¥2.11 billion (+87%) / 7.15x
Fourth Weekend: ¥286.3 million (0%) / ¥2.75 billion (+30%) / 9.32x
Fifth Weekend: ¥215.7 million (-25%) / ¥3.35 billion (+22%) / 11.36x
Sixth Weekend: ¥159.6 million (-26%) / ¥3.77 billion (+13%) / 12.78x

3. Confessions (2010)
First Weekend: ¥269.8 million
Second Weekend: ¥282.7 million (+4%) / ¥895 million (+332%) / 3.31x
Third Weekend: ¥286.9 million (+2%) / ¥1.55 billion (+73%) / 5.74x
Fourth Weekend: ¥289.4 million (+1%) / ¥2.16 billion (+39%) / 8.00x
Fifth Weekend: ¥217.3 million (-24%) / ¥2.71 billion (+26%) / 10.03x
Sixth Weekend: ¥154.7 million (-29%) / ¥3.08 billion (+14%) / 11.41x

4. Ponyo (2008)
First Weekend: ¥1.03 billion
Second Weekend: ¥805.7 million (-22%) / ¥3.23 billion (+312%) / 3.12x
Third Weekend: ¥776.5 million (-4%) / ¥5.26 billion (+63%) / 5.11x
Fourth Weekend: ¥755.3 million (-3%) / ¥7.21 billion (+37%) / 7.00x
Fifth Weekend: ¥851.3 million (+12%) / ¥9.94 billion (+38%) / 9.65x
Sixth Weekend: ¥577.2 million (-32%) / ¥11.49 billion (+16%) / 11.16x

5. Thermae Romae (2012)
First Weekend: ¥432.5 million
Second Weekend: ¥547.5 million (+21%) / ¥2.22 billion (+513%) / 5.13x
Third Weekend: ¥363.7 million (-34%) / ¥2.96 billion (+33%) / 6.84x
Fourth Weekend: ¥330.0 million (-9%) / ¥3.66 billion (+24%) / 8.45x
Fifth Weekend: ¥251.5 million (-24%) / ¥4.19 billion (+15%) / 9.68x
Sixth Weekend: ¥203.6 million (-19%) / ¥4.65 billion (+11%) / 10.75x

Depending on how Ted does over the next couple weeks, it may earn its place on this weekly update.

And so I won't have to make an additional post, Thermae Romae, the film you see above that finished #2 at the Box Office in 2012, just had it's sequel announced earlier today with a release set for Golden Week (late April) of 2014.

2012 Statistics are finally available:

>Yearly Box Office Totaled ¥195.19 billion ($2.34 billion), up 7.7% over last year.

>Yearly Admissions Totaled 155.16 million, up 7.2% over last year.

>Japanese Films earned ¥128.181 billion ($1.53 billion), up 28.8% over last year and a new record beating 2010's ¥118.217 billion. The Market Share was 65.7%, their highest share since 1965.

>Imported Films earned ¥67.009 billion ($798 million), down 17.9% from last year and a 13-year low. The Market Share was 34.3%, their lowest share since 1965.

>983 Films were released, 554 Japanese and 429 Imported, up 184 over last year and setting a new record beating 2006's 821 films.

>58 Films earned ¥1 billion or more, 39 Japanese and 19 Imported. That is the most Japanese Films to earn ¥1 billion in a year, and the second highest number overall after 2005's 63 films.

>The Average Ticket Price was ¥1,258 ($14.98), up 0.04% over last year.

I'll post the Top 58 films tomorrow evening.

Very impressive.

China finally overtook Japan in 2012, but they still had an excellent year and are comfortably in second place internationally. Anyone know how long Japan held the title for top international market? Unless the UK was really, really big in the 80s or 90s, I guess Japan was #1 since the 50s or 60s?

Japanese films were so strong last year. They alone earned ($1.53 billion) more than some major markets like Australia ($1.07 billion) and Russia ($1.33 billion). And 983 films released? That is such a large increase over recent years with 700/800 films released.

Top Grossing Films of 2012 (¥1 billion+)

Rank :: Revenue ¥ (billion) / $ (million) :: Title :: Release :: Admissions (million) :: Distributor
01 :: ¥7.33 / $93.60 :: Umizaru: Brave Hearts :: July :: 5.75 :: FT :: Toho
02 :: ¥5.98 / $76.34 :: Thermae Romae :: Apr. :: 4.71 :: FT :: Toho
03 :: ¥5.97 / $75.96 :: Bayside Shakedown THE FINAL :: Sept. :: 4.65 :: FT :: Toho
04 :: ¥5.38 / $70.55 :: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol :: Dec '11 :: 4.24 :: FT :: Paramount
05 :: ¥5.30 / $64.00 :: Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo :: Nov. :: 3.85 :: FT :: T-Joy
06 :: ¥4.22 / $53.97 :: The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki :: July :: 3.42 :: FT :: Toho
07 :: ¥3.81 / $48.85 :: Resident Evil: Retribution :: Sept. :: 2.60 :: FT :: Sony
08 :: ¥3.62 / $46.07 :: Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles :: Mar. :: 3.35 :: FT :: Toho
09 :: ¥3.61 / $46.04 :: Pokemon B&W: Kyurem Vs. The Sacred Swordsman - Keldeo :: July :: 3.43 :: FT :: Toho
09 :: ¥3.61 / $46.04 :: The Avengers :: Aug. :: 2.38 :: FT :: Disney
11 :: ¥3.44 / $43.68 :: ALWAYS: Sunset on Third Street '64 :: Jan. :: 2.70 :: FT :: Toho
12 :: ¥3.29 / $42.34 :: Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker :: Apr. :: 2.75 :: FT :: Toho
13 :: ¥3.16 / $40.88 :: The Amazing Spider-Man :: June :: 2.15 :: FT :: Sony
14 :: ¥3.13 / $40.34 :: Men in Black 3 :: May :: 2.12 :: FT :: Toho-Towa
14 :: ¥3.13 / $40.34 :: Kaibutsu-Kun: The Movie :: Nov '11 :: 2.39 :: FT :: Toho
16 :: ¥3.01 / $38.30 :: Rurouni Kenshin :: Aug. :: 2.42 :: FT :: Warner Bros.
17 :: ¥2.84 / $34.73 :: The Floating Castle :: Nov. :: 2.33 :: FT :: Toho/Asmik Ace
18 :: ¥2.52 / $31.69 :: We Were There: Part I :: Mar. :: 2.10 :: FT :: Toho/Asmik Ace
19 :: ¥2.39 / $30.36 :: SPEC: The Movie :: Apr. :: 1.85 :: FT :: Toho
19 :: ¥2.39 / $30.36 :: Dearest :: Aug. :: 2.16 :: FT :: Toho
21 :: ¥2.34 / $29.41 :: Holy Scripture of Evil :: Nov. :: 1.78 :: FT :: Toho
22 :: ¥2.16 / $27.21 :: Dark Shadows :: May :: 1.71 :: FT :: Warner Bros.
23 :: ¥2.15 / $27.12 :: Heruta Skelter :: July :: 1.60 :: FT :: Asmik Ace
24 :: ¥2.10 / $26.50 :: Liar Game: Reborn :: Mar. :: 1.68 :: FT :: Toho
25 :: ¥2.05 / $26.07 :: Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted :: Aug. :: 1.60 :: FT :: Paramount
26 :: ¥1.97 / $24.62 :: The Dark Knight Rises :: July :: 1.49 :: FT :: Warner Bros.
27 :: ¥1.95 / $24.49 :: Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows :: Mar. :: 1.67 :: FT :: Warner Bros.
28 :: ¥1.90 / $24.14 :: K-ON! The Movie :: Dec '11 :: 1.45 :: FT :: Shochiku
29 :: ¥1.88 / $24.02 :: Glow of Fireflies :: June :: 1.50 :: FT :: Toho
30 :: ¥1.82 / $23.37 :: In Time :: Feb. :: 1.42 :: FT :: FOX
31 :: ¥1.81 / $23.30 :: Prometheus :: Aug. :: 1.24 :: FT :: FOX
32 :: ¥1.72 / $22.01 :: We Were There: Part II :: Apr. :: 1.37 :: FT :: Toho/Asmik Ace
33 :: ¥1.71 / $21.98 :: Snow White and the Huntsman :: June :: 1.33 :: FT :: Toho-Towa
34 :: ¥1.68 / $21.67 :: Shizanmono: The Movie :: Jan. :: 1.35 :: FT :: Toho
35 :: ¥1.66 / $21.06 :: Connection :: Oct. :: 1.36 :: FT :: Toho
36 :: ¥1.65 / $19.24 :: The Intouchables :: Sept. :: 1.33 :: FT :: Gaga
37 :: ¥1.57 / $18.86 :: Space Brothers :: May :: 1.21 :: FT :: Toho
38 :: ¥1.56 / $18.85 :: Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen :: Apr. :: 1.34 :: FT :: TOEI
39 :: ¥1.53 / $18.72 :: Fleet Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto :: Dec '11 :: 1.19 :: FT :: TOEI
40 :: ¥1.51 / $18.68 :: Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: War Mega Max :: Dec '11 :: 1.30 :: FT :: TOEI
41 :: ¥1.49 / $19.11 :: Friends: Naki On Monster Island :: Dec '11 :: 1.11 :: FT :: Toho
42 :: ¥1.48 / $18.87 :: Naruto: Road to Ninja :: July :: 1.27 :: FT :: Toho
42 :: ¥1.48 / $18.87 :: Tale of Genji :: Dec '11 :: 1.22 :: FT :: Toho
44 :: ¥1.47 / $18.62 :: Battleship :: Apr. :: 1.16 :: FT :: Toho-Towa
44 :: ¥1.47 / $18.62 :: Real Steel :: Dec '11 :: 1.15 :: FT :: Walt Disney
46 :: ¥1.45 / $18.53 :: Outrage 2: Beyond :: Oct. :: 1.09 :: FT :: Warner Bros.
47 :: ¥1.40 / $17.74 :: A Chorus of Angels :: Nov. :: 1.12 :: FT :: TOEI
48 :: ¥1.35 / $17.37 :: Sadako 3D :: May :: .969 :: FT :: Kadokawa Pictures
49 :: ¥1.33 / $16.71 :: Chronicle of My Mother :: Apr. :: 1.03 :: FT :: Shochiku
50 :: ¥1.27 / $15.86 :: Kamen Rider Fourze: Everyone, Space is Here! :: Aug. :: 1.04 :: FT :: TOEI
51 :: ¥1.25 / $15.66 :: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo :: Feb. :: .996 :: FT :: Sony
52 :: ¥1.20 / $15.22 :: Eight Ranger :: July :: 1.01 :: FT :: Toho
53 :: ¥1.17 / $15.06 :: Puss in Boots :: Mar. :: .925 :: FT :: Paramount
54 :: ¥1.16 / $14.99 :: Robo-G :: Jan. :: 1.00 :: FT :: Toho
55 :: ¥1.15 / $14.52 :: Inazuma Eleven GO :: Dec '11 :: .946 :: FT :: Toho
56 :: ¥1.08 / $13.93 :: The Adventures of Tintin :: Dec '11 :: .754 :: TE :: Toho-Towa
57 :: ¥1.02 / $12.75 :: Hugo :: Mar. :: .732 :: FT :: Paramount
58 :: ¥1.02 / $12.75 :: Pretty Cure All Stars New Stage: Friends of the Future :: Mar. :: .881 :: FT :: TOEI
59 :: ¥1.02 / $12.75 :: Total Recall :: Aug. :: .800 :: FT :: Sony

Japanese Film
Imported Film

Evangelion 3.0 ends up in 2012 afterall with Eiren using a projected final total.

02/02-03
Weekend Forecast

1 (1) Ted (Toho-Towa) ¥270 million ($3.0 million) Week 3
2 (-) Jack Reacher (Paramount) ¥260 million ($2.9 million) NEW!
3 (2) Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) ¥230 million ($2.6 million) Week 2
4 (3) Strawberry Night (Toho) ¥195 million ($2.2 million) Week 2
5 (4) Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) ¥130 million ($1.5 million) Week 7
6 (5) Tokyo Family (Shochiku) ¥105 million ($1.2 million) Week 3
7 (-) Yellow Elephant (Showgate) ¥75 million ($840,000) NEW!
8 (6) One Piece Film Z (Toei) ¥70 million ($790,000) Week 8
9 (-) Documentary of AKB48: No Flower Without Rain (Toho Video Division) ¥65 million ($730,000) NEW!
10 (-) Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent (Warner Bros.) ¥35 million ($395,000) NEW!

Should be a close contest for the #1 spot between Ted's third weekend and Jack Reacher's debut. I gave Ted the edge since it has been having a ridiculous run so far, and Jack Reacher opened on Friday which will deflate the weekend a tad.

I may have went too conservative on Yellow Elephant. Aoi Miyazaki is easily one of the most popular actresses right now, so I wouldn't be surprised if it hit ¥100 million.

Projected Total (¥1 billion+) After Sunday
One Piece Film Z: ¥6.6 billion ($76 million) after eight weeks.
Les Miserables: ¥4.1 billion ($47 million) after seven weeks.
Ted: ¥1.5 billion ($17 million) after three weeks.
Tokyo Family: ¥1.0 billion ($12 million) after three weeks.

Outside the Top 10:
Evangelion 3.0: ¥5.2 billion ($63 million) after twelve weeks.
Skyfall: ¥2.8 billion ($32 million) after ten weeks.
Today, I Started Loving You: ¥1.8 billion ($21 million) after nine weeks.
The Hobbit: ¥1.7 billion ($19 million) after eight weeks.
Hunter X Hinter: ¥1.1 billion ($13 million) after four weeks.

I have no source at all other than just a hunch, but I'd imagine that the UK might have been the second biggest market during one or more years of the 60s (Julie Andrews/Bond-mania?). Is there a website available that ranks the foreign markets by total revenue?

If it was any year, it would have to be mid-late 60s or perhaps early 70s.

Admissions were insane in Japan from 1955-1962. Yearly admissions were exceeding 800 million during this time frame, and 1957-1960 even broke 1 billion admissions (wtf). They then began to slow between 1963-1965 when ticket prices doubled/tripled (still doing 300-400 million admissions a year, however), and after steadily decreasing from 1966-1971 (200-300 million admissions) from more ticket price spikes, admissions became stagnant in 1972 (ticket prices now nearly 10x higher than the previous decade) hovering between 130-180 million each year ever since.

Spam (Sat. estimates on next page).

02/02
Saturday Estimates

Film / Sat. Estimate / % Change from last Sat. / Week in Release
1 Ted (Toho-Towa) ¥135 million ($1.5 million), -18%, Week 3
2 Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) ¥113 million ($1.3 million), -31%, Week 2
3 Jack Reacher (Paramount) ¥109 million ($1.3 million), 0, NEW! [321 Theaters]
4 Strawberry Night (Toho) ¥108 million ($1.3 million), -31%, Week 2
5 Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) ¥78 million ($880,000), -2%, Week 7
6 Yellow Elephant (Showgate) ¥47 million ($525,000), 0, NEW! [235 Theaters]
7 Tokyo Family (Shochiku) ¥46 million ($515,000), -34%, Week 3
8 One Piece Film Z (Toei) ¥30 million ($340,000), -42%, Week 8
9 Documentary of AKB48: No Flowers Without Rain (Toho Video Division) ¥26 million ($295,000), 0, NEW! [119 Theaters]
10 Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent (Warner Bros.) ¥19 million ($215,000), 0, NEW! [93 Theaters]

Ted will claim it's third-consecutive week on top based on these figures.

As for second place, it's a three-way battle between Jack Reacher, Life of Pi and Strawberry Night.

Les Mis dropped 25/26% the past two weekends, and while very impressive, those were the film's biggest drops to date, but it is now back to it's incredible run and should see a sub-10% drop this weekend or maybe it'll even increase if Sunday is strong enough. By comparison, it's 7th Saturday is estimated to be higher than it's 6th Friday in the US.

Yellow Elephant is doing pretty well, while the other two openers AKB48 and Berserk III are doing expected numbers. I want to note that Berserk III got an R-18 rating (the highest), which is really rare for any film in the market much less an animated release.

Since this year's documentary of AKB48 opened this weekend (yeah, fourth annual doc. on the group.. you can say they're popular), here is the mini-pv of their song "Sugar Rush" from the Wreck-It-Ralph film. The song was featured before the first Sugar Rush race in the movie:



Wreck-It-Ralph (titled Sugar Rush in Japan) opens in March.

02/02-03
Weekend Estimates

Film / Wknd. Estimate / % Change / Week in Release
1 (1) Ted (Toho-Towa) ¥271 million ($3.04 million), -18%, Week 3
2 (2) Life of Pi (20th Century Fox) ¥221 million ($2.49 million), -33%, Week 2
3 (3) Strawberry Night (Toho) ¥214 million ($2.41 million), -32%, Week 2
4 (-) Jack Reacher (Paramount) ¥210 million ($2.36 million), 0, NEW! [321 Theaters]
5 (4) Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) ¥143 million ($1.61 million), -10%, Week 7
6 (5) Tokyo Family (Shochiku) ¥92 million ($1.03 million), -36%, Week 3
7 (-) Yellow Elephant (Showgate) ¥82 million ($925,000), 0, NEW! [235 Theaters]
8 (6) One Piece Film Z (Toei) ¥66 million ($740,000), -38%, Week 8
9 (-) Documentary of AKB48: No Flowers Without Rain (Toho Video Division) ¥49 million ($550,000), 0, NEW! [119 Theaters]
10 (-) Berserk Golden Age Arc III: Descent (Warner Bros.) ¥39 million ($440,000), 0, NEW! [93 Theaters]

Ted is still a beast .

Solid second weekend holds for Life of Pi and Strawberry Night.

Jack Reacher could have done a bit better, but the results are enough to achieve the ¥1 billion ($12 million) milestone at the least. The estimate would be about 86% of Valkyrie's opening weekend. The 3-day total should be close to ¥250 million ($3 million).

Audiences are still in love with Les Mis in it's seventh weekend, and still in the Top 5. If it didn't become the highest grossing musical of all-time this weekend, it definitely will before Wednesday.

Yellow Elephant performed pretty well, selling approx. 22% more tickets than Showgate's New Shoes last fall.

The Documentary of AKB48 only did 2/3 of the admissions of last year's film. I'm sure the films cost next to nothing to release, so I'm sure we'll see another next year. The "scandal/controversy" surrounding the YouTube video of one member's apology after being fired for having a boyfriend (against the bands rules) could have been a factor, too.

Berserk III did alright for itself and opened higher than it's predecessor, but still way less than the first film. This one though was hit with the rare R-18+ rating, so it's a great accomplishment to even rank in the Top 10. To put the rating into comparison, Django Unchained which will open next month is "only" rated R-15. R-18 ratings are pretty much the NC-17 rating in Japan.

That group is so fucking nuts.

So, I assume, Les Mis will break $50 million, right?

It'll break $50 million next weekend.

And as long as the yen doesn't get too strong (currently at a 2.5 year high), it'll reach $60 million+. It will still have Anne Hathaway's Oscar win and any other techs it may pick up to get it there.

Could it get to $70 milion with some luck and become the biggest English-language film since Harry Potter 7.2?

It would need a big night at the Academy Awards, either somehow winning the most awards of the night or pulling off some major upsets (Actor perhaps), for that to happen.

It's at approx. ¥4.1 billion ($47 million) now. At it's current pace, I see it finishing with ~¥5.1/5.2 billion ($57/58 million). If it does better than expected at the Academy Awards, it could crack $60 million.

02/02-03
Weekend Cinema Chain Rankings

[TOHO]
1 Ted (Toho-Towa) Week 3
2 Strawberry Night (Toho) Week 2
3 Life of Pi (Fox) Week 2
4 Jack Reacher (Paramount) NEW
5 Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) Week 7
6 Documentary of AKB48: No Flowers Without Rain (Toho Video Division) NEW
7 Tokyo Family (Shochiku) Week 3
8 Yellow Elephant (Showgate) NEW
9 One Piece Film Z (Toei) Week 8
10 Hunter X Hunter: The Phantom Rouge (Toho) Week 4

[Warner Mycal]
1 Jack Reacher (Patamount) NEW
2 Strawberry Night (Toho) Week 2
3 Life of Pi (Fox) Week 2
4 Tokyo Family (Shochiku) Week 3
5 Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) Week 7

[Shikoku]
1 Jack Reacher (Paramount) NEW
2 Strawberry Night (Toho) Week 2
3 Ted (Toho-Towa) Week 3
4 Life of Pi (Fox) Week 2
5 One Stormy Night (Group TAC) NEW
6 Tokyo Family (Shochiku) Week 3
7 Yellow Elephant (Showgate) NEW
8 One Piece Film Z (Toei) Week 8
9 Documentary of AKB48: No Flowers Without Rain (Toho Video Division) NEW
10 Sentei Tokumei Vs. Gokaija Kaizoku Sentei (Toei) Week 3

[Sunshine]
1 Jack Reacher (Paramount) NEW
2 Strawberry Night (Toho) Week 2
3 Life of Pi (Fox) Week 2
4 Les Miserables (Toho-Towa) Week 7
5 Tokyo Family (Shochiku) Week 3

Jack Reacher did very well at all the locations except for Toho. And unfortunately for it, Toho is the largest chain. Ted is playing so strong at Toho (almost exclusively) that I still don't think Jack Reacher will rank 1st despite ranking 1st everywhere else. Though I do think Jack Reacher will debut in 2nd place, ahead of it's estimate earlier.