Japan Box Office Top 10: My Happy Marriage Live-Action Film Tops in Opening Weekend

The live-action film adaptation of Akumi Agitogi's fantasy light novel My Happy Marriage was released in 313 theaters across Japan on March 17, then earned an impressive 654 million yen (5.09 million USD) on 479,700 admissions in its first three-day weekend, making its No.1 debut at Japanese box office.

The Ayuko Tsukahara (Cafe Funiculi Funicula)-directed film stars Mio Imada (Hinata Tachibana in the Tokyo Revengers live-action films) and Ren Meguro (Johnny & Associates' boy idol group Snow Man member). The film ranked third on Filmarks' first day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.89/5.0 based on 873 reviews.

In addition to the live-action film, the novel's TV anime adaptation has been in the works for release on Netflix in July 2023.

Unlike the previous two Shin films, Shin Kamen Rider failed to make its No.1 debut. The latest tokusatsu reboot film project helmed by Hideaki Anno following Shin Godzilla (2016) and Shin Ultraman (2022) was started its screening first in selected theaters at 18:00 on March 17, then was released fully in 374 theaters across Japan on the following day, March 18.

Its firs three day gross including the Friday advance screenings was 542 million yen (4.21 million USD) on 345,000 admissions, which was 86.7 percent of the first two-day gross of Shin Godzilla and 55 percent of the first three-day gross of Shin Ultraman. If the film had been released fully nationwide on Friday like My Happy Marriage, it might have gotten the No.1 spot. Considering the total domestic gross of Shin Ultraman (4.44 billion yen), Shin Kamen Rider is likely to end up around two billion yen at the box office in Japan.

The film has received mixed reviews from the audience. It ranked only sixth on Filmarks' first day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.64/5.0 based on 4,800 reviews.

After dominating the Japanese box office for two weekends in a row, Doraemon: Nobita's Sky Utopia, the 42nd anime feature film in the nationally popular Doraemon franchise, ranked third in its third weekend with 412 million yen (3.2 million USD) on 339,000 admissions, bringing its total to 1.78 billion yen (13.84 million USD).

THE FIRST SLAM DUNK was down two positions to fourth in its 16th weekend. Meanwhile,

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village- ranked eighth in its seventh weekend.

The anime film adaptation of Shinichi Ishizuka's jazz-themed manga BLUE GIANT dropped four positions to tenth in its fifth weekend, and its cumulative total gross has reached 620 million yen (4.82 million USD).

Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (March 17-19, 2023)

(ticket sales basis)

1 (new). "My Happy Marriage" - 654 million yen

2 (new). "Shin Kamen Rider" - 542 million yen

3 (1). "Doraemon: Nobita's Sky Utopia" - 1.78 billion yen

4 (2). "THE FIRST SLAM DUNK"

5 (3). "And Yet, You Are So Sweet"

6 (5). "Everything Everywhere All at Once" - 310 million yen

7 (new). "Shazam! Fury of the Gods"

8 (4). "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Swordsmith Village-" - 3.69 billion yen

9 (new). "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish"

10 (6). "BLUE GIANT" - 620 million yen