The live-action film adaptation of Akane Shimizu’s manga series Cells at Work! kept its first-place position in the Japan Top 10 box-office for two consecutive weekends now, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha. The movie recorded earnings of 532 million yen (3.38 million USD) on 386,000 admissions in its second weekend, a 37% week-on-week drop from its opening weekend, The film’s official X (formerly Twitter) also reported that the cumulative total gross since releasing on December 13 now stands at 1.75 billion yen (11.13 million USD) earned from 1.28 million ticket sales, making it the third highest-grossing Japanese live-action film adaptation of popular manga in 2024, behind Kingdom: Return of the Great General (8.03 billion yen) and Golden Kamuy (3 billion yen).
Gekijoban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyou no Gunshi (translated to Nintama Rantaro the Movie: The Strongest Strategist of the Dokutake Ninja Squad), the first theatrical film from the long-running Nintama Rantaro anime series in 13 years, opened in 328 theaters across Japan on December 20. The movie earned 263 million yen (1.67 million USD) on 184,000 admissions between Friday and Saturday, making a fourth-place debut in the weekend ranking. Its cumulative total box office gross, including the advance screenings held on December 15, reached 295 million yen (1.88 million USD) on 198,000 admissions. Meanwhile, the film took No.1 in Filmark’s first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.28/5.0 based on 978 reviews.
Saint☆Oniisan THE MOVIE ~Holy Men VS Akuma Gundan (translated to Saint Young Men THE MOVIE ~Holy Men vs Devil’s Army), a live-action feature film adaptation of Hikaru Nakamura’s slice of life comedy manga series, released in 328 theaters on December 20, ranking sixth in its opening weekend. The film ranks also sixth in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.04/5.0 based on 633 reviews. Along with Ken’ichi Matsuyama as Jesus and Shota Sometani as Buddha, Yuichi Fukuda (Gintama live-action film series), who worked on the previous TV drama series that ran for three seasons from 2018 to 2020, was again attached to direct.
Oshi no Ko -The Final Act- opened in 363 theaters December 20, making a seventh-place debut. The feature film tells a sequel story to the eight-episode web drama series released on Amazon Prime Video from November 28 to December 5. The film ranked #4 in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 3.79/5.0 based on 902 reviews.
In its second weekend, the live-action film adaptation of Reiko Hiroshima’s children fantasy novel series Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendo ranked eighth, down four places from last weekend.The perfect edition of Fafner: Heaven and Earth, the 2010 feature film from the Fafner in the Azure franchise, is now playing in eight theaters in Japan for a limited time of one week from December 20 to 27 as part of the franchise’s 20th-anniversary project. The special screenings using the film’s UHD edition that was only included in the franchise’s “Ultimate” box released in 2019 ranked fifth in Kogyo Tsushinsha’s mini-theater ranking.
Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (December 20-22, 2024)
(ticket sales basis with notes in parentheses marking previous week’s placement)
| Rank | Title | Weekends since Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | Cells at Work! | 2 |
| 2 (2) | Moana 2 | 3 |
| 3 (new) | Mufasa: The Lion King | 1 |
| 4 (new) | Gekijouban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyou no Gunshi | 1 |
| 5 (3) | Doctor-X The Movie | 3 |
| 6 (new) | Saint☆Oniisan THE MOVIE ~Holy Men VS Akuma Gundan | 1 |
| 7 (new) | Oshi no Ko -The Final Act- | 1 |
| 8 (4) | Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendo | 2 |
| 9 (6) | Shotai | 4 |
| 10 (5) | Kraven the Hunter | 2 |
Sources: Eiga.com, Kogyo Tsushinsha, Kogyo Tsushinsha mini-theater ranking, “Cells at Work!” live-action movie official X (formerly Twitter)©Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©Shigemitsu Harada, Issei Hatsuyoshiya, Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©2024 “Cells at Work!” Production Committee
