The Super Mario Bros. movie is a huge blockbuster.
13:08 JST, January 31, 2024
TOKYO (Jiji Press) – Japan’s box office revenue in 2023 rose 3.9 percent from the previous year to ¥221,482 million for the third year in a row, driven by the popularity of anime films, according to an industry group.
According to the Japan Motion Picture Producers Association, the number of moviegoers rose 2.3 percent to 155,535,000.
The country’s box office revenues “have almost recovered to levels before the novel coronavirus crisis,” said Yoshishige Shimatani, head of the association.
The top three Japanese films were all anime films.
“The First Slam Dunk” ranked first with sales of ¥15.87 billion. “Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine” came in second with ¥13.88 billion, followed by “The Boy and the Heron” with ¥8.84 billion.
The highest-grossing foreign film was “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” with a gross of ¥14.02 billion, followed by “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” with ¥5.43 billion and “Avatar: The Way of Water” with ¥4.31 billion. .
It marks the first time that films that grossed more than ¥10 billion annually in Japan were all anime films.
