Biggest Live-Action Musicals Opening Weekends [1998-]
Rank - Weekend Gross / Admissions [Screen Count] - Film

¥439.0 million ($4.9 million) / 387,118 [334] - Mamma Mia! (2009)
¥426.0 million ($3.6 million) / 328,722 [342] - Into the Woods (2015)
¥415.8 million ($3.7 million) / 289,979 [308] - La La Land (2017)
¥398.7 million ($3.7 million) / 292,516 [400] - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008)
¥334.0 million ($3.3 million) / 248,620 [269] - The Phantom of the Opera (2005)
¥295.4 million ($3.6 million) / 229,225 [360] - Les Miserables (2012)
¥282.4 million ($2.3 million) / 209,806 [259] - Chicago (2003)
¥218.6 million ($1.9 million) / 164,186 [507] - Annie (2015)
¥203.5 million ($1.7 million) / 152,800 [288] - Dreamgirls (2007)
¥130.0 million ($1.1 million) / 98,000 [157] - Moulin Rouge! (2001)
¥120.7 million ($1.4 million) / 88,994 [314] - Nine (2010)
¥119.9 million ($1.0 million) / 90,695 [225] - Hairspray (2007)
¥119.1 million ($1.0 million) / 87,000 [274] - The Producers (2006)
>¥100 million+

Highest-Grossing Live-Action Musicals [1998-]

¥5.89 billion ($65.3 million) / 4.80 million - Les Miserables (2012)
¥4.20 billion ($37.1 million) / 3.26 million - The Phantom of the Opera (2005)
¥3.73 billion ($33.4 million) / 2.73 million - La La Land (2017) [After 6 Weeks in Release]
¥3.50 billion ($28.9 million) / 2.65 million - Chicago (2003)
¥2.60 billion ($28.2 million) / 2.14 million - Mamma Mia! (2009)
¥2.38 billion ($20.0 million) / 1.85 million - Into the Woods (2015)
¥2.05 billion ($19.8 million) / 1.53 million - Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2008)
¥1.92 billion ($16.1 million) / 1.50 million - Dreamgirls (2007)
¥1.40 billion ($11.8 million) / 1.11 million - Annie (2015)
¥1.00 billion ($8.3 million) / 0.78 million - Moulin Rouge! (2001)
¥1.00 billion ($8.0 million) / 0.76 million - The Producers (2006)
>¥1 billion+

30 days = 5th weekend...

Anyway, thank you as usual for your work here...

Whoops, I've been a week behind on it. Thanks for the notice. It is indeed in its 5th week, I mistakenly had it playing in its 4th weekend. Posted have been edited.

I'll post the Weekend Forecast in an hour or two.

It's probably going to be a rough weekend for holdovers with this weekend being post-Spring Break and one that is following a weekend that had a discount day (last Saturday). Pre-sales are WAY down compared to last Saturday so far, and it's understandable given those reasons.

Ghost in the Shell is the most notable opener this weekend, and based on its Friday performance, it should do alright. I'm doubtful that it'll be dethroning Sing, which will be in its fourth weekend, but a solid second place debut (possibly third if Moana manages a fair enough hold) will still be respectable.

There's a long history of "Hollywoodized" films based on, or inspirited by, Japanese source material disappointing or outright bombing in Japan, and while Ghost in the Shell isn't going to do particularly well, it also doesn't appear to be doing too badly either - it seems to have found a middle ground of sorts based on early indications.

(C) MMXVI Paramount Pictures and Storyteller Distribution Co. All rights reserved.

Weekend Forecast (04/08-09)
01 (01) ¥286,000,000 ($2.6 million), -39%, ¥3,925,000,000 ($35.4 million), Sing (Toho-Towa) WK4
02 (02) ¥234,000,000 ($2.1 million), -38%, ¥4,325,000,000 ($38.9 million), Moana (Disney) WK5
03 (---) ¥225,000,000 ($2.0 million), 0, ¥315,000,000 ($2.8 million), Ghost in the Shell (Toho-Towa) NEW
04 (03) ¥193,000,000 ($1.7 million), -36%, ¥1,600,000,000 ($14.4 million), Kong: Skull Island (Warner Bros.) WK3
05 (04) ¥144,000,000 ($1.3 million), -48%, ¥3,950,000,000 ($35.5 million), Doraemon: Great Adventure in the Antarctic (Toho) WK6
06 (05) ¥92,000,000 ($830,000), -35%, ¥1,050,000,000 ($9.4 million), Daytime Shooting Star (Toho) WK3
07 (---) ¥90,000,000 ($810,000), 0, ¥120,000,000 (1.1 million), The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (Toho Video Division) NEW
08 (06) ¥81,000,000 ($730,000), -34%, ¥3,900,000,000 ($34.8 million), La La Land (Gaga) WK7
09 (07) ¥71,000,000 ($640,000), -40%, ¥800,000,000 ($7.2 million), Policeman and Me (Shochiku) WK3
10 (06) ¥56,000,000 ($505,000, -42%, ¥500,000,000 ($4.5 million), Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Ultra Superhero War (Toei) WK3

This weekend may very well see many 40%+ drops since it's coming off of Spring Break and follows last weekend which had a discount day (last Saturday, the 1st of the month), but I'm going to be a little optimistic and hope for the best.

As I mentioned above, Ghost in the Shell debuts this weekend, and based on its Friday and morning/afternoon ticket sales so far today, it's looking to do alright. It'll pick up once the evening showings begin, so it's still early and perhaps it'll improve; a debut in second place is still doable. And either way, there's much precedent for a film like this to have disappointed or bomb, and it seems to be avoiding that at least and should do somewhat decently in the end.

I get the opening because of curiosity, but what are the reviews and WOM saying for it?

A little bit off-topic, Your Name made $627,208 in the first day of North America release and gonna end up below top 10. Funimation can't really be a wide distributor. The only good thing is it's no. 3 in term of average per theatre.

That's pretty good but for now I see no expansion on number of screens for YN, Funimation really sucks, they should have given the rights to Gkids instead.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/schedule/? ... -14&p=.htm

I understand if GKids didn't want this as it had to go all the way on promoting My Life as a Zucchini. And at that time it also already bought Miss Hokusai, another well-received by critic Japanese animated feature.

Japan should have gotten Ghost in a Shell before anyone else that way to maximize potential ya know

Hollywood movies rarely release earlier in Japan and when they do they don't do well.

Yeah, typically delayed imported releases benefit at the box office moreso than they would with day-and-date release with the U.S. and/or other countries.

Weekend Estimates will be up in an hour or two.

Reviews are mixed right now, averaging 3/5 on the most popular movie sites. We'll have to wait and see how WOM is, considering how backloaded of a market Japan is - it can take a couple weeks before it becomes certain.

However, one early indicator of WOM can be a movie's Sunday hold, and Ghost in the Shell's was pretty bad (-20%).

(C) MMXVI Paramount Pictures and Storyteller Distribution Co. All rights reserved.

Weekend Estimates (04/08-09)
01 (01) ¥283,000,000 ($2.6 million), -40%, ¥3,925,000,000 ($35.4 million), Sing (Toho-Towa) WK4
02 (---) ¥250,000,000 ($2.3 million), 0, ¥340,000,000 ($3.0 million), Ghost in the Shell (Toho-Towa) NEW
03 (02) ¥227,000,000 ($2.1 million), -40%, ¥4,325,000,000 ($38.9 million), Moana (Disney) WK5
04 (03) ¥171,000,000 ($1.5 million), -44%, ¥1,575,000,000 ($14.2 million), Kong: Skull Island (Warner Bros.) WK3
05 (04) ¥152,000,000 ($1.4 million), -47%, ¥3,950,000,000 ($35.5 million), Doraemon: Great Adventure in the Antarctic (Toho) WK6
06 (05) ¥89,000,000 ($800,000), -37%, ¥1,050,000,000 ($9.4 million), Daytime Shooting Star (Toho) WK3
07 (---) ¥80,000,000 ($720,000), 0, ¥110,000,000 ($990,000), The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (Toho Video Division) NEW
08 (06) ¥74,000,000 ($665,000), -39%, ¥3,900,000,000 ($34.8 million), La La Land (Gaga) WK7
09 (07) ¥65,000,000 ($585,000), -45%, ¥800,000,000 ($7.2 million), Policeman and Me (Shochiku) WK3
10 (06) ¥57,000,000 ($515,000, -41%, ¥500,000,000 ($4.5 million), Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Ultra Superhero War (Toei) WK3

Many harsh post-Spring Break drops this weekend.

>Sing claims its fourth-consecutive week atop the weekend box office. Illumination's successful streak in the market continues, and although the somewhat heavy post-Spring Break decline for Sing likely means it won't have much staying power from this point forward, thus probably ruling out a ¥5 billion (~$45 million) total (blockbuster milestone), it's going to get quite close and outgross The Secret Life of Pets (¥4.24 billion). A huge success for Illumination once again.

>Ghost in the Shell performed pretty well, especially given it could have done much worse based on previous Hollywoodized attempts at Japanese source material, either adapted or inspired by. There's no indication that legs will be anything but ordinary, so expect a total around ¥1.25 billion ($11/12 million).

>Moana slips to third place once again, and this weekend drop likely means it, too, won't have too much staying power in its post-Spring Break run to come. It's definitely coming in on the low end of legs (probably going to miss a 9 multiplier, and definitely missing 10), in terms of animated Disney releases (especially those of late), but a total over ¥5 billion (~$45 million), the blockbuster milestone, is still very likely and there's certainly nothing to disappointed about there despite failing to match its studio predecessors.

>Doraemon: Great Adventure in the Antarctic experiences its regular harsh post-Spring Break drop, and its weekdays are about to become minuscule, but it's performed so well, even in the face of two major Hollywood animated hits/blockbusters, that it's going to exceed ¥4 billion very soon - and when it does, it'll become only the second film in the long running franchise to reach the mark, after last year's film, and might even go on to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise (needs to exceed last year's films' ¥4.12 billion).

Thank you for the coverage of "Your Name"! I finally got to see it at the theater and can go back to impatiently waiting on the blu-ray release date.

I had a question about the various rankings I've seen for it. For the Japanese box office, it ranks #4 all-time or #2 Japanese movies only. Also with the worldwide results, it's the #1 anime movie. But how does it rank in the worldwide results for Japanese movies generally, not just for anime?

Your Name total 24.87 (KogyoTsushin) or 24.870 (Hal51 blog)
31 million yen the whole week, decrease from 52 million yen in previous week.
Did it lose screen this week, Corpse?

I believe the drop will be because of the Spring-break bump last week it would have received.

My French is far from perfect, but according to a post in this forum, these are the top movies in Tokyo from 1955-1965:

1) WEST SIDE STORY (Artistes Associés) = 1 525 150 entrées
2) LE JOUR LE PLUS LONG (20th Century-Fox) = 1 059 412 entrées
3) BEN-HUR (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) = 953 334 entrées
4) ALAMO (Artistes Associés) = 816 409 entrées
5) LES 101 DALMATIENS (Walt Disney) = 704 499 entrées
6) MY FAIR LADY (Warner Bros.) = 684 139 entrées
7) EXODUS (Artistes Associés) = 668 749 entrées
8) LAWRENCE D'ARABIE (Columbia) = 600 025 entrées
9) CLEOPÂTRE (20th Century-Fox) = 448 718 entrées
10) LA MELODIE DU BONHEUR (20th Century-Fox) = 428 358 entrées
11) BONS BAISERS DE RUSSIE (Artistes Associés) = 410 415 entrées
12) LES 55 JOURS DE PEKIN (Artistes Associés) = 408 114 entrées
13) GOLDFINGER (Artistes Associés) = 399 147 entrées
14) LES CHEYENNES (Warner Bros.) = 394 264 entrées

http://www.allocine.fr/communaute/forum ... =3075.html

It's interesting that it includes Tokyo only. Cool info though, definitely PM that to enzo1988 (he'd surely be interested).

Weekend Actuals will be posted in an hour or so.

It still hasn't lost any screens, maintaining the same count now for its 33rd week of release. The decline is due to the post-Spring Break decline, expected, and being down to a single showing at the vast majority of its locations. Its home video release is slated for October, 14 months after opening, so Toho still has 6 months to keep it playing theatrically.

(C) MMXVI Paramount Pictures and Storyteller Distribution Co. All rights reserved.

Weekend Actuals (04/08-09)
01 (01) ¥310,195,000 ($2.8 million), -34%, ¥4,045,408,000 ($36.5 million), Sing (Toho-Towa) WK4
02 (---) ¥273,191,700 ($2.5 million), 0, ¥367,164,400 ($3.2 million), Ghost in the Shell (Toho-Towa) NEW
03 (02) ¥249,611,300 ($2.3 million), -34%, ¥4,414,983,900 ($39.7 million), Moana (Disney) WK5
04 (03) ¥169,379,300 ($1.5 million), -45%, ¥1,589,564,900 ($14.3 million), Kong: Skull Island (Warner Bros.) WK3
05 (04) ¥166,112,900 ($1.5 million), -42%, ¥4,038,973,500 ($36.3 million), Doraemon: Great Adventure in the Antarctic (Toho) WK6
06 (---) ¥101,440,300 ($916,000), 0, ¥138,136,900 ($1.2 million), The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (Toho Video Division) NEW
06 (05) ¥89,899,100 ($812,000), -37%, ¥1,053,316,900 ($9.4 million), Daytime Shooting Star (Toho) WK3
08 (06) ¥81,817,500 ($739,000), -33%, ¥3,925,306,200 ($35.0 million), La La Land (Gaga) WK7
09 (13) ¥71,126,800 ($642,000, +07%, ¥758,623,500 ($6.7 million), Kuroko no Basket: Last Game (Shochiku) WK4
10 (07) ¥64,776,300 ($579,000), -45%, ¥808,553,000 ($7.3 million), Policeman and Me (Shochiku) WK3

Actuals ended up improving quite nicely over estimates, and compared to the average post-Spring Break weekend, this year's holds are all around quite good!

>Sing claims its fourth-consecutive week atop the weekend box office. Illumination's successful streak in the market continues, as Sing will outgross The Secret Life of Pets (¥4.24 billion) within a week. The improved fourth weekend hold and improved cumulative total may be high enough to propel the film above the ¥5 billion (~$45 million) blockbuster milestone - very, very impressive. And after 24 days in release, the film has now sold an impressive 3,353,447 admissions and should exceed 4 million admissions. Japan is now the film's highest grossing overseas market.

>Ghost in the Shell performed pretty well, especially given it could have done much worse based on previous Hollywoodized attempts at Japanese source material, either adapted or inspired by. The Scarlett Johansson lead live-action adaptation sold 171,203 admissions over the weekend frame across 611 screens, and reached 233,329 admissions since opening on Friday. The film will likely have a degree of frontloading to it, but a total of ¥1.5 billion ($13/14 million) could be doable.

>Moana slips to third place, and has sold an impressive 3,653,859 admissions after 31 days in release. While it's definitely coming in on the low end of legs in terms of animated Disney releases (especially those of late), a total over ¥5 billion (~$45 million), the blockbuster milestone, is locked up, and it might be able to climb closer to ¥6 billion (~$55 million). Japan is now the film's highest grossing overseas market.

>Kong: Skull Island surprisingly had the worst hold over the post-Spring Break weekend, a weekend that's traditionally fairly good to non-animated/family films. After 16 days in release, the film has sold 1,076,556 admissions. Regardless of the sharp decline, it's still outpacing 2005's King Kong, though it's going to fall behind it soon since the 2005 film had the benefit of New Year after its third week. Still, a total above ¥2 billion (~$20 million) is likely, which is perfectly fine.

>Doraemon: Great Adventure in the Antarctic takes its regular harsh post-Spring Break drop, though this drop is actually on the better end of drops the franchise usually experiences. After 37 days in release, the film has sold 3,564,365 admissions. The 37th entry in the long running franchise exceeded the ¥4 billion milestone over the weekend, becoming only the second film in the franchise to ever reach the mark (after last year's film). It's outpacing last year's at this stage, and is locked to outgross it to become the highest-grossing film in the franchise - an incredible feat.

>Your Name. fell outside of the Top 20 in its 33rd week of release, but has brought its phenomenal total up to ¥24,869,647,600 ($235.3 million) with 19,159,920 admissions.