Evangelion Death and Rebirth Returns to the Box Office Top 10

A piece of anime history made a surprising comeback. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth returned to 90 theaters across Japan last Friday as part of the franchise’s 30th anniversary celebrations, and it performed well enough to land back in the box office top ten.

Over the long October 10 to 13 holiday weekend, the film sold about 72,653 tickets and earned roughly 119 million yen, around 786,000 US dollars. That was enough for tenth place by earnings, an impressive showing for a movie that first opened in 1997.

The screening is part of a monthly event running from October 2025 through February 2026, with one Evangelion film shown each month, beginning with this one and followed by The End of Evangelion and the four Rebuild films.

For context, Death and Rebirth was partly a compilation film. Its Death segment retells and condenses the original series with retouched and newly added scenes, including memorable linking moments of the main cast playing in a string quartet, while the Rebirth segment leads into The End of Evangelion.

Demand has been strong enough that some theaters are already extending the film’s run beyond its planned dates.

My take: Seeing a 28 year old film charm audiences all over again is a real testament to Evangelion’s staying power. I love that fans are turning out to experience these movies on the big screen together.