In the first weekend of 2025, the live-action film adaptation of Akane Shimizu’s manga series Cells at Work! earned 641 million yen (4.05 million USD) from 466,000 ticket sales, holding the number one spot for four consecutive weekends, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha. The box office performance of the film for the past two weekends continued to rise, partly because Japan’s New Year’s holiday season. The third weekend’s box office gross of 581 million yen was up 9.2 percent from the previous second weekend’s 532 million yen, while the fourth weekend gross was up another 10.3 percent from the third weekend. The film’s domestic total in 23 days since debuting on December 13 reached 4.1 billion yen (26 million USD) from 3.07 million ticket sales. Now it has become the eighth top-grossing Japanese film released in 2024, surpassing My Hero Academia The Movie: You’re Next with 3.6 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), the first theatrical film from the long-running Nintama Rantaro anime series in 13 years, was down two positions to sixth in its third weekend. 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 (known as Saint ☆Oniisan in Japan), also dropped two places from last weekend to eighth.
The live-action film adaptation of Reiko Hiroshima’s children’s fantasy novel series Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendo ranked ninth in its fourth weekend, two places down from last weekend. Meanwhile, Oshi no Ko -The Final Act-, a sequel film to the eight-episode web drama series, went down two spots to tenth place in its third weekend.
Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (January 3-5, 2025)
(ticket sales basis with notes in parentheses marking previous week’s placement)
| Rank | Title | Weekends since Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (1) | Cells at Work! | 4 |
| 2 (new) | Grand Maison Paris | 1 |
| 3 (2) | Moana 2 | 5 |
| 4 (3) | Mufasa: The Lion King | 3 |
| 5 (5) | Doctor-X: The Movie | 5 |
| 6 (4) | Gekijouban Nintama Rantaro: Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyou no Gunshi | 3 |
| 7 (new) | The Beekeeper | 1 |
| 8 (6) | Saint☆Oniisan THE MOVIE: ~Holy Men VS Akuma Gundan | 3 |
| 9 (7) | Fushigi Dagashiya Zenitendo | 4 |
| 10 (8) | Oshi no Ko- The Final Act- | 3 |
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Eiga.com©Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©Shigemitsu Harada, Issei Hatsuyoshiya, Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©2024 “Cells at Work!” Production Committee
