Later this week, targeting Wednesday/Thursday, I'm planning to post a special preview for the weekend of December 19-20.

But in the meantime, here's a short preview:

First Look - Star Wars Vs. Yo-Kai Watch



Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Yo-Kai Watch: The Great King Enma and the 5 Stories, Nyan! go head-to-head in what could very well become the biggest weekend of all-time.

Some theaters are now adding showtimes for the weekend frame for the much anticipated weekend, so it's probably about time to prepare the tracking process:

>Advance Tickets - Advance tickets for Yo-Kai Watch 2 went on sale back on July 25th, while advance ticket sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens began on September 4th in an exclusive deal with LucasFilm.

>Theater Counts - The theater counts for both films have been finalized for many months. Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be playing at 365 locations, while Yo-Kai Watch 2 will be playing at 358 locations.

>7-Eleven - The convenience store chain, which is very popular in Japan and has more locations there than anywhere else in the world, is running advance ticket sale promotions for both films, where shoppers can receive bonuses for purchasing advance tickets from their stores. It's a big deal gaining the 7-Eleven tie-in promotion in the market, and rarely do they promote multiple films a season.

Star Wars will win against whatever those things are lol

I'm rooting for Yo-Kai Watch.

Do you even know what's it's about

A little.

It'll certainly be one of the most exciting weekends to ever follow, if not the most exciting for a long time.

It isn't uncommon for blockbusters to open against each other in Japan, especially in July, August, or December. It occurs in most years. Because rather than having a negative effect on one, both, or sometimes multiple releases, they generally boost one another at the box-office instead by bringing out large crowds.

But what makes the December 19-20 weekend different than any other is that both Star Wars: Episode VII and Yo-Kai Watch 2 can each, realistically, exceed 1 million admissions over the weekend, and no weekend has ever had two films break the 1 million admission mark in the past.

It's incredibly difficult enough for just one film reach 1 million admissions on opening weekend, let alone two, with only 7 films having done so in the past 10 years - two of which are from the Star Wars and Yo-Kai Watch franchises (Episode III in 2005, and Yo-Kai Watch's near all-time opening record last year).

I'll have a special preview highlighting the early weekend news up sometime tomorrow, or Friday at the latest. Every day this week seems to have some interesting news related to one or both films, so holding off a bit is proving advantageous.

Usual Locations - Saturday Seating/Showtime Counts (66% of Market)

11/21 [Sat.]
#Seats [#Theaters/#Showings], Film (Dis.) Week in Release
328,510 [229/1,221], The Little Prince (Warner Bros.) NEW
226,518 [191/1,007], Ghost Theater (Shochiku) NEW
194,061 [108/547], Raintree Country (Showgate) NEW
166,716 [220/903], Mozu (Toho) Week 3
125,195 [184/737], The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner Bros.) Week 2
124,581 [217/774], Grasshopper (Shochiku) Week 3
96,050 [165/503], Everest (Toho-Towa) Week 3
87,290 [220/670], Galaxy Turnpike (Toho) Week 5
85,962 [208/611], My Love Story!! (Toho) Week 4
85,277 [42/235], Raintree Country (Showgate) Stage Greeting Events
77,391 [223/501], Pan (Warner Bros.) Week 4
64,310 [84/372], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Kadokawa) NEW
58,361 [143/352], Princess Pretty Cure The Movie: Go! Go!! Splendid Triple Feature!!! (Toei) Week 4
50,691 [36/179], Girls und Panzer: The Movie (Showgate) NEW
45,294 [149/351], Last Knights (Gaga) Week 2
33,552 [214/233], Library Wars: The Last Mission (Toho) Week 7
31,242 [209/212], Bakuman (Toho) Week 8
28,921 [136/204], Terminal (Toei) Week 3
24,172 [90/121], The Intern (Warner Bros.) Week 7
23,432 [39/150], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (Kadokawa) Re-release
22,888 [100/175], The Monuments Men (Presido) Week 3
19,616 [58/143], Harmony (Toho Video Division) Week 2
13,905 [29/67], Penguins of Madagascar (Fox) Week 2
12,824 [10/51], Girls und Panzer OVA: This is the Real Anzio Battle! (Showgate) Re-release
12,604 [20/82], The Rewrite (Kino Films) NEW

This is going to be an interesting weekend with the #1 spot being wide open for a few films.

There are two openers that I believe have a fair chance of debuting at #1, and Mozu should still provide stiff competition for the top position in its third weekend as well.

>The Little Prince is receiving a wider release than expected, and while that's an advantage, it doesn't normally matter. The source material is known in the market (there's even a museum in Japan, 'Museum of the Little Prince', dedicated to Saint-Exupéry) but imported-animated features remain unpopular. But if any can breakout, even if just a bit, it should be this one.

>Raintree no Kuni is well ahead of the competition based on pre-sales, largely thanks to its substantial stage greetings, but it's limited by its low screen count. And to my knowledge, Showgate has never had a film debut atop the box office before. However, given how wide-open the top spot is this weekend, those stage greetings could certainly propel it to the top spot.

>I don't believe Ghost Theater has a chance at the #1 spot. It'll probably miss the Top 3 this weekend, too.

>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 isn't going to suddenly make this franchise a hit in the market, and the finale will likely be fighting to nab a debut in the Top 10 like all its predecessors (though Catching Fire actually missed the Top 10). I see it making the Top 10, though probably no higher than 7th/8th.

Year-end lists will begin being published in the coming days/weeks, so here's the highest first week sales for manga this past year:

Top Selling Manga: 2015 - First Week Sales
November 17, 2014 - November 15, 2015

First Week Copies - Volume Title (Author/Publisher)
1,676,264 - One Piece #78 (Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha)
1,668,225 - One Piece #77 (Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha)
1,467,741 - One Piece #79 (Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha)
1,441,768 - One Piece #76 (Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha)
1,010,545 - Attack on Titan #15 (Hajime Isayama/Kodansha)
874,120 - Naruto #72 (Masashi Kishimoto/Shieisha) *Final Volume!*
868,694 - Attack on Titan #16 (Hajime Isayama/Kodansha)
771,157 - Attack on Titan #17 (Hajime Isayama/Kodansha)
619,726 - Naruto Gaiden (Masahi Kishimoto/Shuiesha)
583,208 - Ao Haru Ride #13 (Io Sakisaka/Shueisha)
539,172 - Haikyu!! #17 (Haruichi Furudate/Shueisha)
525,855 - Silver Spoon #13 (Hiromu Arakawa/Shogakukan)
442,492 - The Seven Deadly Sins #13 (Nakaba Suzuki/Kodansha)
434,675 - Tokyo Ghoul:re #2 (Sui Ishida/Shueisha)
423,828 - Assassination Classroom #15 (Yusei Matsui/Shueisha)
422,688 - Assassination Classroom #13 (Yusei Matsui/Shueisha)
414,826 - Kingdom #40 (Yasuhisa Hara/Shueisha)
413,291 - Haikyu!! #15 (Haruichi Furudate/Shueisha)
401,206 - Blue Exorcist #14 (Kazue Kato/Shueisha)
399,095 - The Seven Deadly Sins #15 (Nakaba Suzuki/Kodansha)
398,484 - The Seven Deadly Sins #14 (Nakaba Suzuki/Kodansha)
386,394 - Saint Oniisan #11 (Hikaru Nakamura/Kodansha)
384,752 - Haikyu!! #16 (Haruichi Furudate/Shueisha)
378,403 - Haikyu!! #14 (Haruishi Furidate/Shueisha)
371,702 - The Seven Deadly Sins #16 (Nakaba Suzuki/Kodansha)
370,664 - March comes in like a lion #11 (Chika Umino/Hakusensha)
369,190 - Tokyo Ghoul:re #3 (Sui Ishida/Shueisha)
367,022 - Haikyu!! #18 (Haruichi Furudate/Shueisha)
363,277 - Bleach #66 (Tite Kudo/Shueisha)
354,022 - Assassination Classroom #16 (Yusei Matsui/Shueisha)
347,259 - Assassination Classroom #14 (Yusei Matsui/Shueisha)
346,272 - Ao Haru Ride #12 (Io Sakisaka/Shueisha)
345,293 - Terra Formars #13 (Yu Sasuga/Shueisha)
343,138 - Detective Conan #87 (Gosho Aoyama/Shogakukan)
340,097 - Orange #5 (Ichigo Takano/Futabasha)
339,249 - Black Butler #21 (Yana Toboso/Square Enix)
338,249 - Tokyo Ghoul:re #4 (Sui Ishida/Shueisha)
336,946 - Kuroko's Basketball #30 (Tadatoshi Fujimaka/Shueisha)
312,953 - Detective Conan #85 (Gosho Aoyama/Shogakukan)
311,755 - Terra Formars #12 (Yu Sasuga/Shueisha)
307,374 - The Seven Deadly Sins #12 (Nakaba Suzuki/Kodansha)
307,123 - Neon Genesis Evangelion #14 (Yoshiyuki Sadamoto/Kadokawa)
305,918 - Terra Formars #14 (Yu Sasuga/Shueisha)
301,170 - Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto #3 (Nami Sano/Kadokawa)
300,000+

2015's Overall Sales by Volume and Series will be posted at a later date.

Of the manga on this list, upcoming announced films based on them includes:

12/12/15 - Orange (Toho) *Live Action
Spring 2016 - Assassination Classroom 2: Graduation (Toho) *Live Action
04/16/16 - Detective Conan: TBA 20th Anniversary Edition (Toho)
04/29/16 - Terra Formars (Warner Bros.) *Live Action
Summer 2016 - One Piece Film (Toei)

Ghost Theater has a weird-ass poster. I think it is Ghost Theater. The one with the hand on the face/eye anyway.

Most Japanese horror films have similarly strange posters.

I'll post the Weekend Forecast in a bit.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 opened in 5th place yesterday, so a 7th/8th place debut this weekend is likely.

(C)2015「レインツリーの国」製作委員会

Weekend Forcast (11/21-22)/2015年11月21日-2015年11月22日
01 (--) ¥150,000,000 ($1.2 million), 0, ¥150,000,000 ($1.2 million), Raintree Country (Showgate) NEW
02 (01) ¥103,000,000 ($840,000), -35%, ¥850,000,000 ($7.0 million), Mozu (Toho) Week 3
03 (02) ¥92,000,000 ($755,000), -31%, ¥680,000,000 ($5.6 million), Grasshopper (Shochiku) Week 3
04 (--) ¥80,000,000 ($650,000), 0, ¥80,000,000 ($650,000), The Little Prince (Warner Bros.) NEW
05 (03) ¥77,000,000 ($635,000), -33%, ¥660,000,000 ($5.4 million), Everest (Toho-Towa.) Week 3
06 (04) ¥72,000,000 ($590,000), -36%, ¥300,000,000 ($2.4 million), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner Bros.) Week 2
07 (--) ¥70,000,000 ($570,000), 0, ¥70,000,000 ($570,000), Girls und Panzer: The Movie (Showgate) NEW
08 (05) ¥65,000,000 ($525,000), -23%, ¥690,000,000 ($5.7 million), My Love Story!! (Toho) Week 4
09 (--) ¥60,000,000 ($490,000), 0, ¥75,000,000 ($610,000), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Kadokawa) NEW
10 (06) ¥49,000,000 ($400,000), -28%, ¥470,000,000 ($3.9 million), Princess Precure: Go! Go!! Splendid Triple Feature!!! (Toei) Week 4

This is a difficult weekend to predict. Each of this weekend's openers is unique, and fairly unpredictable: There's a stage greet film playing on a modest number of screens than most tend to, an imported-animated feature playing wider than it probably should be, a limited release with strong pre-sales but dismal walk-up business, and a horror film that... is barely registering.

>Raintree Country appears headed for the #1 debut based almost entirely on its solid stage greeting attendance. However, it's still a Showgate release, thus it has a low screen count (189) compared to most of the other releases, so it's harder to gauge its actual potential (or lack thereof).

If it manages to dethrone Mozu, I'm almost positive it'll be the first Showgate release to ever debut in first place at the box-office.

>The Little Prince is unfortunately struggling, and despite Warner Bros.'s best efforts to turn this one into a breakout, they're not going to payoff. Unless it has a very, very strong Sunday performance, I don't think it's coming even near a ¥100 million debut.

>Girls und Panzer: The Movie had some strong pre-sales with 25% of its Saturday admissions sold in advance, but that's to be expected and actual morning/afternoon ticket sales are very, very poor as a result. It's also a limited release, playing on 77 screens, so it has some limitations.

>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 debuted in 5th place yesterday, and isn't taking this franchise out on any high notes. Its predecessor debuted in 7th place earlier this year, and that's about as high as the finale can hope for this weekend.

The series never grabbed anyone's attention in Japan, with each installment bombing at the box-office and often struggling to manage a Top 10 debut (Catching Fire even missed the Top 10).

>Ghost Theater was appropriately named since it perfectly describes all the empty showings it currently has. It'll pick up some in the evening, but uou can count the number of people per showing on one hand at many locations right now.

I really don't know if it'll even make the Top 10 this weekend, and if it does, it's going to be near the very bottom.

Usual Locations - Saturday Admissions (66% of Market)

11/21 [Sat.]
#Admissions [#Theaters/#Showings], Film (Dis.) Week in Release
38,325 [153/822], Raintree Country (Showgate) NEW
33,747 [59/321], Girls und Panzer: The Movie (Showgate) NEW
19,255 [234/1,286], The Little Prince (Warner Bros.) NEW
17,381 [225/954], Mozu (Toho) Week 3
14,810 [220/813], Grasshopper (Shochiku) Week 3
13,174 [188/781], The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner Bros.) Week 2
11,466 [167/530], Everest (Toho-Towa) Week 3
11,438 [194/1,054], Ghost Theater (Shochiku) NEW
11,104 [124/541], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Kadokawa) NEW
9,502 [211/638], My Love Story!! (Toho) Week 4
9,413 [7/37], Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 1 - Reunion (Toei) NEW
6,111 [147/368], Princess Pretty Cure The Movie: Go! Go!! Splendid Triple Feature!!! (Toei) Week 4
5,580 [224/701], Galaxy Turnpike (Toho) Week 5
5,568 [94/145], The Intern (Warner Bros.) Week 7
4,587 [227/528], Pan (Warner Bros.) Week 4
3,927 [59/145], Harmony (Toho Video Division) Week 2
2,996 [218/238], Library Wars: The Last Mission (Toho) Week 7
2,686 [102/187], The Monuments Men (Presido) Week 3
2,546 [216/221], Bakuman (Toho) Week 8
2,456 [151/367], Last Knights (Gaga) Week 2
1,824 [20/80], The Rewrite (Kino Films) NEW
1,439 [29/67], Penguins of Madagascar (Fox) Week 2
1,206 [138/217], Terminal (Toei) Week 3
1,062 [50/69], No Longer Heroine (Warner Bros.) Week 10
1,000+

Mark this day down, as it'll probably be the only time you'll ever see two Showgate releases occupying the 1st and 2nd positions.

>Pretty impressive first day for Raintree Country, though it's worth noting that half of its Saturday admissions were sold in advance for the stage greetings. I want to say it's a lock to debut in 1st place, but the significant drop that'll probably happen on Sunday makes it uncertain. Plus, 81% of its overall theater count is accounted for above, versus the usual 65-70%.

>Girls und Panzer: The Movie performed quite well in limited release, selling through nearly 40% of its Saturday tickets. Despite being a limited release, it'll likely achieve a Top 5 debut this weekend, if not Top 3 if it doesn't drop too hard tomorrow. Impressive weekend all together for Showgate, in fact, this is the best weekend they have ever enjoyed.

>The Little Prince didn't collapse into the evening, so it's not skewing too young, and managed to post a stronger start than morning ticket sales indicated. It's still likely to miss a ¥100 million debut, but should come reasonably close.

>Ghost Theater finally brought in some business after a terrible morning/afternoon performance yesterday, and eventually found its way into the Top 10 and should earn itself a Top 10 debut this weekend, too. It won't debut much higher than ¥50/60 million.

>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 got off to an expected poor start like all its predecessors, but it at least improved 7% on Mockingjay - Part 1 and should debut in a similar 7th/8th place.

>Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 1 - Reunion performed exceptionally well, selling through 83% of its Saturday tickets (averaging 254 people per showing!). If it can sustain this pace tomorrow, it could be a darkhorse and bump something out of the Top 10 even though it's playing on just 10 screens (7 accounted for above).

Oh, I love Japan!

Usual Locations - Weekend Admissions (66% of Market)

11/21-22 [Sat./Sun.]
TW (LW) #Admissions (% change) [#Theaters/#Showings], Film (Dis.) Week in Release
01 (--) 58,954 [153/1,652], Raintree Country (Showgate) NEW
02 (--) 56,283 [59/622], Girls und Panzer: The Movie (Showgate) NEW
03 (--) 49,581 [234/2,559], The Little Prince (Warner Bros.) NEW
04 (01) 43,618 (-33%) [225/1,895], Mozu (Toho) Week 3
05 (02) 36,435 (-36%) [220/1,622], Grasshopper (Shochiku) Week 3
06 (03) 31,171 (-31%) [188/1,549], The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner Bros.) Week 2
07 (04) 27,908 (-37%) [167/1,054], Everest (Toho-Towa) Week 3
08 (05) 24,771 (-33%) [211/1,271], My Love Story!! (Toho) Week 4
09 (--) 24,449 [194/2,079], Ghost Theater (Shochiku) NEW
10 (--) 23,990 [124/1,075], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Kadokawa) NEW
11 (--) 18,279 [7/76], Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 1 - Reunion (Toei) NEW
12 (06) 16,181 (-41%) [147/732], Princess Pretty Cure The Movie: Go! Go!! Splendid Triple Feature!!! (Toei) Week 4
13 (08) 14,773 (-40%) [224/1,396], Galaxy Turnpike (Toho) Week 5
14 (09) 14,149 (-33%) [94/289], The Intern (Warner Bros.) Week 7
15 (07) 12,371 (-50%) [227/1,053], Pan (Warner Bros.) Week 4
16 (10) 8,345 (-47%) [59/289], Harmony (Toho Video Division) Week 2
17 (11) 8,037 (-44%) [218/475], Library Wars: The Last Mission (Toho) Week 7
18 (14) 6,968 (-37%) [216/442], Bakuman (Toho) Week 8
19 (13) 6,535 (-47%) [102/369], The Monuments Men (Presido) Week 3
20 (12) 5,418 (-59%) [151/726], Last Knights (Gaga) Week 2
21 (17) 4,386 (-29%) [29/134], Penguins of Madagascar (Fox) Week 2
22 (--) 3,972 [20/159], The Rewrite (Kino Films) NEW
23 (16) 2,903 (-54%) [138/432], Terminal (Toei) Week 3
24 (19) 2,859 (-46%) [50/138], No Longer Heroine (Warner Bros.) Week 10
25 (22) 2,116 (-46%) [49/100], We Are Perfume: 3rd World Tour Documentary (Nikkatsu) Week 4
2,000+

It's kind of impossible to accurately put together Weekend Estimates this week. First place could have went to any of the Top 4 films, all being somewhere in the ~70,000-80,000 admissions range (Mozu perhaps a bit less), so it comes down to each film's avg. ticket price.

And if anyone's interested, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 came in about 21% ahead of its predecessor in admissions at the usual locations. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 opened with $368,000. The exchange rate is slightly more favorably now than back in early June when the first film opened, so the finale should have earned $400-450,000, ranking 9th or 10th over the weekend.

Also, Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 1 - Reunion, the first film of the revived Digimon series (first few episodes now available), sold through 78% of its weekend admissions! It averaged 240 people per showing over the weekend. Chapter 2 opens next Spring.

Monday was Labour Day, so actuals will be delayed until tomorrow.

(C)GIRLS und PANZER Film Projekt

Weekend Actuals (11/21-22)/2015年11月21日-2015年11月22日
01 (--) ¥128,438,980 ($1.05 million), 0, ¥135,640,600 ($1.10 million), Girls und Panzer: The Movie (Showgate) NEW
02 (--) ¥123,944,520 ($1.01 million), 0, ¥123,944,520 ($1.01 million), Raintree Country (Showgate) NEW
03 (--) ¥107,070,300 ($873,000), 0, ¥107,070,300 ($873,000), The Little Prince (Warner Bros.) NEW
04 (01) ¥107,000,200 ($872,000), -32%, ¥868,528,500 ($7.1 million), Mozu (Toho) Week 3
05 (02) ¥85,723,400 ($699,000), -36%, ¥678,533,700 ($5.6 million), Grasshopper (Shochiku) Week 3
06 (04) ¥78,720,100 ($641,000), -31%, ¥312,735,700 ($2.5 million), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner Bros.) Week 2
07 (03) ¥66,107,200 ($539,000), -43%, ¥635,625,400 ($5.2 million), Everest (Toho-Towa.) Week 3
08 (--) ¥57,385,300 ($468,000), 0, ¥57,385,300 ($468,000), Ghost Theatre (Shochiku) NEW
09 (05) ¥55,060,500 ($449,000), -34%, ¥686,339,200 ($5.7 million), My Love Story!! (Toho) Week 4
10 (--) ¥53,120,500 ($433,000), 0, ¥71,105,700 ($579,000), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Kadokawa) NEW

Weekend actuals came in a bit higher than expected again this weekend, and while it's the weakest weekend of the year, it still produced three debuts above ¥100 million.

>Girls und Panzer: The Movie surprises and snags the weekend victory despite playing in limited release. The film marks the first Showgate release this decade to debut atop the box-office.

The first film in the Girls und Panzer series sold 84,752 admissions over the weekend across 77 screens, which wasn't good enough for rank first in admissions, but the high avg. ticket price of ¥1,515 allowed it to achieve the victory in revenue.

>Raintree Country debuts in second place over the weekend, but in terms of weekend admissions, it managed to come achieve first place.

The film adaptation of Hiro Arikawa novel delivered a nice opening, selling 91,726 tickets over the weekend across 190 screens, giving Showgate the not only a first place film over the weekend in revenue, but also in terms of weekend admissions.

>The Little Prince, the French 3D motion-capture/CGI animated release, settles for a third place debut, but still posted a respectable start.

Released via Warner Bros. in the market, the film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's novel of the same name sold 82,898 tickets on 569 screens. Since the source material is known in Japan, expectations were favorable and while the debut is decent, it's probably receiving mixed results for the studio. However, it's important to note that for a imported-animated film (non-Disney), the debut is fairly strong.

>Ghost Theatre delivered an expected poor opening, only selling 44,148 admissions on 266 screens over the weekend.

>The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 debuts in a disappointing 10th place, which is the second-lowest weekend ranking in the series. However, while the weekend ranking is disappointing, its weekend take did improve upon that of its predecessor.

The final film of the Hunger Games series sold 38,430 tickets across 252 screens, up 16% in admissions over its predecessor's opening weekend (and up 17% in revenue), also, its 3-day total saw a fair 4% increase, too.

>Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 1 - Reunion debuted in 11th place on only 10 screens, earning a very impressive ¥43,637,900 ($356,000). The film sold through over 75% of its weekend admissions, and achieved a 2-day PSA of 4,363,790 ($35,565).

Usual Locations - Saturday Seating/Showtime Counts (66% of Market)

11/28 [Sat.]
#Seats [#Theaters/#Showings], Film (Dis.) Week in Release
194,973 [227/980], The Little Prince (Warner Bros.) Week 2
130,336 [223/790], Mozu (Toho) Week 4
126,302 [148/629], Raintree Country (Showgate) Week 2
124,806 [188/740], Ghost Theater (Shochiku) Week 2
98,381 [218/638], Grasshopper (Shochiku) Week 4
95,076 [184/594], The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (Warner Bros.) Week 3
78,755 [221/585], Galaxy Turnpike (Toho) Week 6
67,360 [209/455], My Love Story!! (Toho) Week 5
66,064 [165/374], Everest (Toho-Towa) Week 4
62,661 [87/390], Woman in Gold (Gaga) NEW
56,297 [144/302], Princess Pretty Cure The Movie: Go! Go!! Splendid Triple Feature!!! (Toei) Week 5
54,883 [57/250], Girls und Panzer: The Movie (Showgate) Week 2
54,397 [119/368], The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (Kadokawa) Week 2
52,357 [225/332], Pan (Warner Bros.) Week 5
33,028 [212/216], Library Wars: The Last Mission (Toho) Week 8
31,329 [204/209], Bakuman (Toho) Week 9
29,116 [145/195], Last Knights (Gaga) Week 3
27,169 [25/123], Ajin: Impulse (Toho Video Division) NEW
22,572 [134/153], Terminal (Toei) Week 4
17,824 [100/127], The Monuments Men (Presido) Week 4
15,535 [8/48], Digimon Adventure tri. Chapter 1 - Reunion (Toei) Week 2
14,431 [59/87], The Intern (Warner Bros.) Week 8
13,078 [8/47], Tamayura: Sotsugyou Shashin - Part 1 (Shochiku Media Division) NEW
12,485 [28/62], Penguins of Madagascar (Fox) Week 3

Nothing exciting this weekend, and it'll be by far the weakest weekend of the year and probably weaker than any weekend from last year, too. All the studios decided to largely abandon November this year, so each weekend this December has multiple notable films scheduled and should be one of the strongest in years.

It's important to note, however, that 007: Spectre has widespread previews this weekend ahead of its December 4th release date, with a whopping 459,011 seats across 231 locations with 1,359 showings on Saturday. Previews, however, haven't been included in opening weekend earnings since 2012.

It's very rare nowadays for anything to have previews (it's the first film this year, that I recall), but when they do, and are so widespread, they're usually equal to or higher than the actual opening weekend take. It seems that Sony only recently decided to have them, probably in order to take full advantage of the dead weekend. And that's a smart decision since keeping sufficient screens/showtimes will be difficult for all holdovers when Star Wars and Yo-Kai Watch debut later in the month.

Since this weekend is so boring for the box-office, I'm not going to post any updates until tomorrow. Even with no wide openers, the holdovers aren't holding very well, either, aside from just a few releases.

There isn't much evidence that video game releases affect the box-office, but some weekends in the past have been unusually weaker due to certain game releases. And if there is any truth to this claim, it's probably happening this weekend:



The latest Monster Hunter game, Monster Hunter X, launched on Saturday so I'll be posting some pictures of the huge lines. The game could possibly sell over 1.5 million copies in just 2 days.

That'd equal over $70 million in sales, not accounting for the new 3DS bundle prices.