Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Final Chapter, the first of the three-part film series for Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, opened in 152 theaters across Japan on September 9 and its eighth-place debut in the weekend box office ranking, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha. The trilogy follows the story of the Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club TV series, which aired for two seasons in 2020 and 2022, and the one-episode OVA NEXT SKY released in 2023. The release schedule for the remaining two parts has not yet been announced.The first part ranked first in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.21/5.0 based on 338 reviews. The result was ahead of the latest entry in the Alien series, Alien: Romulus (4.03 on 5,482 reviews), which opened the same weekend in Japan and came in third in the ranking.
The live-action film adaptation of Taro Nogizaka’s psychological thriller manga Natsume Arata no Kekkon (“Natsume Arata’s Marriage”) released in 343 theaters on September 6, ranking fourth with 126 million yen (877,000 USD) on 87,000 admissions in its opening weekend. The movie also ranked seventh in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.60/5.0 based on 1,132 reviews.
Eiga: Crayon Shin-chan: Oratachi no Kyoryu Nikki (“Crayon Shin-chan The Movie: Our Dinosaurs Diary”), the 31st feature film from the Crayon Shin-chan anime franchise, ranked fifth in its fifth weekend of release, down two places from last weekend. Kingdom: Daishougun no Kikan (“Return of The Great General”) ranked sixth in its ninth weekend, the same position as last weekend. Its cumulative total gross has exceeded 7.5 billion yen (52.21 million USD) earned from 5.13 million ticket sales since its release in Japan on July 12. According to Kogyo Tsushinsha’s all-time box office ranking in Japan, the movie now ranks 95th with 7.56 billion yen (52.8 million USD), surpassing Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) with 7.51 billion yen (52.44 million USD).The latest feature film in the My Hero Academia anime franchise was down three places to seventh in its sixth weekend, bringing its total to 3.1 billion yen (21.58 million USD) on 2.18 million admissions. The Colors Within (known as Kimi no Iro in Japan), an original theatrical anime film directed by Naoko Yamada (Liz and the Blue Bird), fell to 10th place, down three positions from its opening weekend.
Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (September 6-8, 2024)
(ticket sales basis with notes in parentheses marking previous week’s placement)
Rank
Title
Weekends since Release
1 (1)
Last Mile
3
2 (new)
Ailen: Romulus
1
3 (2)
Inside Out 2
6
4 (new)
Natsume Arata no Kekkon
1
5 (3)
Eiga Crayon Shin-chan: Oratachi no Kyoru Nikki
5
6 (6)
Kingdom: Return of The Great General
9
7 (4)
My Hero Academia: You’re Next
6
8 (new)
Love Live! Nijigasaki School Idol Club
Final Chapter Part 1
1
9 (5)
Despicable 4
8
10 (7)
The Colors Within
2
Sources: Eiga.com, Kogyo Tsushinsha, Filmarks©2024 Project Love Live! Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club Movie
