Japan Box Office: Shin Ultraman Repeats at No.1 with Strong 486 Million Yen

After making its impressive debut last weekend, Shin Ultraman has kept its No.1 spot for two consecutive weeks.

The Shinji Higuchi (Attack on Titan live-action films, Shin Godzilla)-directed all-new live-action film inspired by Tsuburaya Production's original Ultraman TV series in 1966-1967 earned a still-strong 486 million yen (3.8 million USD) on 312,000 admissions in its second weekend, bringing its total to 2 billion yen (15.65 million USD) on 1.34 million admissions. The two-week gross was about 93 percent of that of Higuchi's previous film in 2016, Shin Godzilla.

A film that outperformed Shin Ultraman in terms of per theater revenue was The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie, a sequel to the two-season TV anime adaptation of Negi Haruba's romantic comedy manga. The 136-minute film was released in 108 theaters across Japan (Shin Ultraman had 362 theaters in its opening weekend) on May 20, then earned an impressive 267 million yen (2.09 million USD) on 200,000 admissions, making its second place debut. Its three-day total reached 390 million yen (3.05 million USD) on 290,000 admissions.

The film even ranked No.1 on Filmarks' first day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.15/5.0 based on 520 reviews.

Coming in third was Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween, which earned 238 million yen (1.86 million USD) on 166,000 admissions in its sixth weekend. Its total box office gross has reached 7.9 billion yen (61.82 million USD) and surpassed that of the Conan anime franchise's third top-grossing film, The Scarlet Bullet (2021 / 7.65 billion yen).

As expected by many people, The Avenger Scar, the first part of the Fullmetal Alchemist Complete Edition, the two-part live-action film sequel of Hiromu Arakawa's internationally popular fantasy action manga Fullmetal Alchemist, bombed at the Japanese box office.

Despite the wide release with 349 theaters and the large amount of publicity on TV, the 125-minute film made a disappointing 72 million yen (563,510 USD) and ranked ninth in its opening weekend. The opening weekend gross was only 27 percent of that of the first live-action film in 2017. It is expected to disappear from the top 10 next weekend. The second part Fullmetal Alchemist: Final Transmutation is set to be released on June 24.

The live-action film adaptation of the Naoki Prize-winning author Mizuki Tsujimura's popular novel Haken Anime! failed to rank in the top 10 in its opening weekend. Meanwhile, the film about the Japanese anime industry ranked second in Filmarks' first day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.00/5.0 based on 1,265 reviews.

Also, Yuki no Maki, the first part of the trilogy film project Toku Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru ~Setsugetsuka~, didn't make it to the box office top 10 in its opening weekend. Its average rating in Filmarks' first day satisfaction ranking was 3.60/5.0 (based on 70 reviews).

Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (May 21-22, 2022)

(ticket sales basis)

1 (1). "Shin Ultraman" - 2 billion yen

2 (new). "The Quintessential Quintuplets the Movie" - 390 million yen

3 (2). "Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween" - 7.9 billion yen

4 (new). "Taiga heno Michi" - 93 million yen

5 (4). "Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Mononoke Ninja Chinpuden" - 1.7 billion yen

6 (3). "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" - 1.89 billion yen

7 (5). "Rurou no Tsuki" - 170 million yen

8 (6). "Shi ni Itaru Yamai"

9 (new). "Fullmetal Alchemist: The Avenger Scar" - 72 million yen

10 (7) "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" - 4.23 billion yen