While the match between Karasuno and Nekoma is a fierce one, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle has entered into a box office battle with a tough opponent – Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron. The two films are now neck and neck on the Japanese all-time box office charts, with The Boy and the Heron just slightly above Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle at 58th and 60th place respectively.As of April 7, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle has brought in 9.267 billion yen (US$61.75 million) on the back of 6.48 million tickets sold. This makes the Haikyu!! FINAL the 60th highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, just slightly above Arrietty at 9.26 billion yen.
For The Boy and the Heron, as of April 7, the Academy Award-winning feature has made 9.3 billion yen (US$64.99 million) in Japan. This brings it to 58th place on the all-time charts, sharing the spot with 2018’s Code Blue: The Movie, thus eliminating the 59th spot.
There is only 330 million yen between The Boy and the Heron and Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle with Haikyu!! currently making more daily than the Miyazaki flick and will likely surpass it later this week.Toho Animation returns to produce the two Haikyu!! FINAL anime films with the animation continuing to be made by the team at Production I.G, including Susumu Mitsunaka as director and screenwriter, Takahiro Kishida as character designer and Takahiro Chiba as chief animation director. The first film, titled Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle, was released in Japan on February 16, 2024. No date for the second film has been announced as of yet.
The Boy and the Heron was originally released in Japanese theaters on July 14, 2023, with its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, and its initial U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival on October 29 before going wide on December 8. The film expanded nationwide again in Japan on March 20 and returned to theaters in North America on March 22.The movie won Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards on March 11, Best Animation of the Year at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize Awards on March 8, Best Animated Film at the British Academy Film Awards on February 18, and Golden Globe for Best Animated Film on January 7, among other awards.
Sources: Mantan Web, Kogyo Tsushin
