Chainsaw Man Film Holds Number One at Japanese Box Office

Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc held onto the top spot at the Japanese box office for a fifth straight weekend, covering October 17 to 19. Based on the Reze Arc of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga, the film sold about 375,000 tickets and earned roughly 582 million yen, or around 3.81 million US dollars, over those three days.

Its total haul has now reached about 4.26 million tickets and 6.5 billion yen, which comes to roughly 42.7 million US dollars. The film first claimed number one by unseating the Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle film, which had led the chart for nine weeks in a row, and Reina Ueda voices Reze in the movie.

The film is also reaching audiences abroad. Sony Pictures Entertainment holds the worldwide theatrical rights and has been rolling it out across more than 80 countries since late September, with United States screenings beginning on October 24 and a United Kingdom opening on October 29.

Holding firm at number two was the live action take on Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second. In its second weekend it sold around 198,000 tickets for about 283 million yen, or roughly 1.85 million US dollars, bringing its total to about 710,000 tickets since its October 10 debut.

That adaptation stars SixTONES member Hokuto Matsumura, with Yoshiyuki Okuyama directing, Ayako Suzuki writing the script, and Kenshi Yonezu performing the theme song. It reimagines Shinkai’s 2007 anime, which told its quiet story across three connected segments.

My take: Seeing both an anime blockbuster and a heartfelt live action adaptation lead the chart says a lot about how broad anime’s appeal has become. I am especially glad Reze Arc is finding audiences worldwide.