Japan Box Office: Cells at Work! Live-Action Movie Ranks No.1 for 3 Consecutive Weekends

The live-action film adaptation of Akane Shimizu’s manga series Cells at Work! earned 581 million yen (3.71 million USD) from 427,000 ticket sales in its third weekend of December 27-29, keeping the first-place position for three consecutive weekends, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha. The film’s third-weekend gross was 9.2 percent up from the second weekend’s 532 million yen. One possible explanation for the rise is that Japan entered the New Year’s vacation season on December 28, which lasts up to nine days depending on the type of business, Since releasing on December 13, the film has built up a 16-day cumulative of 2.7 billion yen (17.2 million USD) on 2.02 million admissions. It is now the 10th highest-grossing Japanese film of 2024 (including both live-action and anime), surpassing Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Our Dinosaur Diary (2.5 billion yen).

Gekijouban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyou no Gunshi (translated to Nintama Rantaro the Movie: The Strongest Strategist of the Dokutake Ninja Squad) held the same fourth-place spot it did on its opening weekend. The film is based on a spin-off novel of the same name written by Kazuhisa Sakaguchi and published in 2013 and is the Nintama Rantaro anime series’ first feature film in 13 years since Ninjutsu Gakuen Zenin Shutsudou no Dan (Ninjutsu Academy: All Hands on Deck! Chapter) in 2011.

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 Saint Young Men, also remained in the same sixth-place position as last week.In its third weekend, the live-action film adaptation of Reiko Hiroshima’s children’s fantasy novel series Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendo ranked seventh, up one place from last weekend. Meanwhile, Oshi no Ko -The Final Act-, a sequel film to the eight-episode web drama series, was in eighth place in its second week — down one spot from its opening weekend.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 opened in Japan on December 27, one week after its US release, under the Japanese title Sonic X Shadow TOKYO MISSION. The third film inspired by Sega’s game series debuted in ninth in its opening weekend in Japan, which was three places down from the first film in June 2020, but one place up from the second film in August 2022.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an anime feature film set in the Lord of the Rings universe, released in 333 theaters across Japan on December 27 and did not make a Top 10 debut. Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: STAND ALONE COMPLEX series) served as the director, and Studio Sola Entertainment (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Sustainable War) worked on anime production.

Inazuma Eleven the Movie 2025, a new anime film from the football-themed multimedia franchise Inazuma Eleven created by Level-5, opened in 127 theaters on December 27 and also did not appear in the overall Top 10 list in its opening weekend.The film consists of two parts: Inazuma Eleven Soshuhen: Densetsu no Kickoff which revolves around the matches in the Football Frontier Arc depicted in the first Inazuma Eleven TV anime series, followed by Inazuma Eleven: Aratanaru Eiyu-tachi no Josho that tells a prologue to the story of Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, the latest installment in the game series.

Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (December 27-29, 2024)

(ticket sales basis with notes in parentheses marking previous week’s placement)

Source: Kogyo Tsushinsha©Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©Shigemitsu Harada, Issei Hatsuyoshiya, Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©2024 “Cells at Work!” Production Committee