After keeping the number one spot for four consecutive weekends since its release on December 13, the Cells at Work! live-action film finally lost its top spot. In its fifth weekend, the live-action film adaptation of Akane Shimizu’s manga series earned 337 million yen (2.13 million USD) on 243,000 admissions, a 46% week-to-week drop, ranking second for the first time behind Takuya Kimura-starring Grand Maison Paris, according to Kogyo Tsushinsha. After 30 days of release, Cells at Work! made a cumulative 4.9 billion yen (31 million USD) from 3.65 million ticket sales in Japan, becoming the seventh top-grossing Japanese film of 2024 and surpassed Doraemon: Nobita’s Earth Symphony with 4.31 billion yen (27.27 million USD).
Following the TV drama series that has aired since 2012, a live-action feature film adaptation of Masayuki Kusumi (story) and Jiro Taniguchi’s (art) Kodoku no Gourmet manga series opened in 256 theaters on January 10, 2025, earning 242 million yen (1.53 million USD) on 167,000 admissions to make a third-place debut. The film’s first four-day gross between Friday and Monday reached 329 million yen (2.08 million USD) on 230,000 admissions. The film ranked number one in Filmarks’ first-day satisfaction ranking with an average rating of 4.05/5.0 based on 1,543 reviews.
In its fourth weekend, Gekijouban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyou no Gunshi (translated to Nintama Rantaro the Movie: The Strongest Strategist of the Dokutake Ninja Squad) was up one position to fifth. As previously reported, the film’s cumulative total gross as of January 8 already reached a milestone of one billion yen (6.33 million USD), making it the highest-grossing film in the Nintama Rantaro anime franchise. It now has a 23-day cumulative of 1.3 billion yen (8.23 million USD) earned from 920,000 ticket sales. 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, dropped two places from last weekend to tenth.
Weekend box office Top 10 in Japan (January 10-12, 2025)
(ticket sales basis with notes in parentheses marking previous week’s placement)
| Rank | Title | Weekends since Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (2) | Grand Maison Paris | 2 |
| 2 (1) | Cells at Work! | 5 |
| 3 (new) | Kodoku no Gourmet: The Movie | 1 |
| 4 (3) | Moana 2 | 6 |
| 5 (6) | Gekijouban Nintama Rantaro Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyou no Gunshi | 4 |
| 6 (new) | 366-nichi | 1 |
| 7 (4) | Mufasa: The Lion King | 4 |
| 8 (5) | Doctor-X: The Movie | 6 |
| 9 (7) | The Beekeeper | 2 |
| 10 (8) | Saint☆Oniisan THE MOVIE ~Holy Men VS Akuma Gundan | 4 |
Sources: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Eiga.com, Filmarks©Akane Shimizu/Kodansha
©Shigemitsu Harada, Issei Hatsuyoshiya, Akane Shimizu/Kodansha ©2024 “Cells at Work!” Production Committee
