Key statistics of the Japanese movie industry in 2018 & list of Japanese movies which crossed the 1 billion yen mark in box office takings

Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Inc. announced key statistics of the Japanese movie industry in 2018 and the list of Japanese movies which crossed the 1 billion yen mark in box office takings during its New Year press conference on 29 Jan 2019:

- Total box office takings for 2018 was 97.3% of 2017's i.e. JPY 222.511 billion.

- "Gekijouban Code Blue Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei" was the No.1 Japanese movie in the box office (JPY 9.3bn) but lost to "Bohemian Rhapsody" (JPY 10.46bn) in terms of the overall ranking. Note that the latter is still showing in cinemas as of now so the total takings are set to go even higher.

- 1,192 movies were released in Japan within 2018 of which 613 were domestic productions while there were 579 foreign movies.

- It has been 15 years since 2003's "Odoru Daisousasen THE MOVIE 2 / Rainbow Bridge wo fuusaseyo!" that there was any Japanese movie which achieved box office takings of more than JPY 9 billion. Other than "Code Blue", "Meitantei Conan Zero no Shikkounin" was the other movie at No.2 which achieved this feat.

- There were 31 Japanese movies and 23 foreign movies which crossed the JPY 1 billion mark.

- Total cinema visits was at 97% of 2017's figure i.e. 169.21 million visits.

- 2018's figures were the 3rd best since 2000 even though there wasn't a super hit among the offerings last year.

- Average ticket price was JPY 1,315 which was 0.4% higher than 2017, thanks to more screenings at 4D, IMAX and Dolby Atmos theatres which usually charge higher prices.

Here is the list of Japanese movies which crossed the 1 billion yen mark in 2018 with their box office takings reflected within the brackets (Note that for some films which were shown towards the end of the year and are still being screened, the final total takings are subjected to change):

Gekijouban Code Blue Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei (9.3bn)
Meitantei Conan Zero no Shikkounin (9.18bn)
Eiga Doraemon Nobita no Takarajima (5.37bn)
Manbiki Kazoku (4.55bn)
Gintama 2 Okite wa yaburutame ni koso aru (3.7bn)
DESTINY Kamakura Monogatari (3.21bn)
Camera wo tomeruna! (3.12bn)
Gekijouban Pocket Monster Minna no Monogatari (3.09bn)
Kensatsugawa no Zainin (2.96bn)
Mirai no Mirai (2.88bn)
Hachinengoshi no Hanayome Kiseki no Jitsuwa (2.82bn)
Eiga Youkai Watch Shadow Side Oniou no Fukkatsu (2.04bn)
Sumaho wo otoshitadake nanoni (1.96bn)
Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Bakushou! Kungfu Boys ~ Ramen Dairan ~ (1.84bn)
Soratobu Taiya (1.74bn)
Chihayafuru - Musubi - (1.73bn)
Boku no Hero Academy THE MOVIE ~ Futari no Eiyuu ~ (1.72bn)
KU-KAI Utsukushiki Ouhi no Nazo (1.7bn)
Inori no maku ga orirutoki (1.59bn)
Koohii ga samenaiuchi ni (1.5bn)
Rapurasu no Majo (1.4bn)
Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FINAL Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Rider (1.28bn)
Nichinichi kore koujitsu (1.28bn)
Kita no Sakuramori (1.27bn)
50 Kaime no First Kiss (1.26bn)
Sensei Kunshu (1.23bn)
Eiga HUGtto! Puri Kyua Futari wa Puri Kyua All Stars Memories (1.15bn)
Hagane no Renkin Jutsushi (1.11bn)
Konya, Romance Gekijou de  / Gekijouban Kamen Rider Build Be The One / Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger en Film (1.02bn)
Ningyo no nemuru ie (1bn)

Source: Natalie

Winners of the 61st Blue Ribbon Award (2018)

Best Movie: Camera wo tomeru na!

Best Leading Actor: Tachi Hiroshi (Owatta Hito)

Best Leading Actress: Kadowaki Mugi (Tomerareruka, oretachi wo)

Best Supporting Actor: Matsuzaka Toori (Korou no Chi)

Best Supporting Actress: Matsuoka Mayu (Manbiki Kazoku / Chihayafuru - Musubi -)

Best Newcomer: Minami Sara (Shino-chan wa jibun no namae ga ienai)

Best Director: Shiraishi Kazuya (Korou no Chi / Tomerareruka, oretachi wo / Sunny 32)

Best Foreign Movie: Bohemian Rhapsody

Top 10 Japanese movies (in alphabetical order):
Camera wo tomeruna!
Kiku to Guillotine
Korou no Chi
SUNNY Tsuyoi kimochi tsuyoi ai
Soratobu Taiya
Tomerareruka, oretachi wo
Nichinichi kore koujitsu
Netemo Sametemo
Manbiki Kazoku
Yakiniku Dragon

Source: Natalie

Winners of the 31st Nikkansports Movie Awards & Ishihara Yujiro Award (2018)

Best Movie: Manbiki Kazoku

Best Director: Shiraishi Kazuya (Sunny 32 / Korou no Chi / Tomerareruka, oretachi wo)

Best Leading Actor: Matsuzaka Toori (Funouhan / Shounen)

Best Leading Actress: Ando Sakura (Manbiki Kazoku)

Best Supporting Actor: Takahashi Issei (Uso wo aisuru onna / Soratobu Taiya / Oku Otoko)

Best Supporting Actress: Kiki Kirin (Manbiki Kazoku / Mori no iru basho / Nichinichi kore koujitsu)

Best Newcomer: Hirate Yurina (HIBIKI)

Best Foreign Movie: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Ishihara Yujiro Award: Camera wo tomeru na!

Ishihara Yujiro Newcomer Award: Iwata Takanori (Kyounen no fuyu, kimi to wakare / Vision / Perfect World Kimi to iru kiseki)

Source: Natalie

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 28th & 29th July 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Gekijouban Code Blue Doctor Heli Kinkyuu Kyuumei (345)

2) Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom (371)

3) Mirai no Mirai (367)

4) Gekijouban Pocket Monster Minna no Monogatari (364)

5) BLEACH (328)

6) Solo: A Star Wars Story (363)

7) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

8) Sore ike! Anpanman Kagayake! Kurun to inochi no hoshi (208)

9) Nijiiro Days (317)

10) Soratobu Taiya (330)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 21st & 22nd July 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom (371)

2) Mirai no Mirai (367)

3) Gekijouban Pocket Monster Minna no Monogatari (364)

4) BLEACH (328)

5) Solo: A Star Wars Story (363)

6) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

7) Soratobu Taiya (330)

8) Nijiiro Days (317)

9) Sore ike! Anpanman Kagayake! Kurun to inochi no hoshi (208)

10) Meitantei Conan Zero no shikkounin (360)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 14th & 15th July 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom (371)

2) Gekijouban Pocket Monster Minna no Monogatari (364)

3) Solo: A Star Wars Story (363)

4) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

5) Soratobu Taiya (330)

6) Nijiiro Days (317)

7) Sore ike! Anpanman Kagayake! Kurun to inochi no hoshi (208)

8) Meitantei Conan Zero no shikkounin (360)

9) 50 Kaime no First Kiss (321)

10) Panku Samurai, Kirarete Soro (324)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 7th & 8th July 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Solo: A Star Wars Story (363)

2) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

3) Nijiiro Days (317)

4) Soratobu Taiya (330)

5) Sore ike! Anpanman Kagayake! Kurun to inochi no hoshi (208)

6) 50 Kaime no First Kiss (321)

7) Panku Samurai, Kirarete Soro (324)

8) Meitantei Conan Zero no shikkounin (360)

9) Wonder (247)

10) Deadpool 2 (363)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 30th June & 1st July 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Solo: A Star Wars Story (363)

2) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

3) Soratobu Taiya (330)

4) Sore ike! Anpanman Kagayake! Kurun to inochi no hoshi (208)

5) Panku Samurai, Kirarete Soro (324)

6) 50 Kaime no First Kiss (321)

7) Meitantei Conan Zero no shikkounin (360)

8) Wonder (247)

9) Deadpool 2 (363)

10) Yakiniku Dragon (162)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 23rd & 24th June 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

2) Soratobu Taiya (330)

3) 50 Kaime no First Kiss (321)

4) Deadpool 2 (363)

5) Meitantei Conan Zero no shikkounin (360)

6) Wonder (247)

7) Yakiniku Dragon (162)

8) Owatta Hito (239)

9) Hitsuji to Hagane no Mori (318)

10) Maze Runner: The Death Cure (320)

Source: Eiga.com

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 16th & 17th June 2018

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Manbiki Kazoku (328)

2) Soratobu Taiya (330)

3) Deadpool 2 (363)

4) 50 Kaime no First Kiss (321)

5) Wonder (247)

6) Maze Runner: The Death Cure (320)

7) Meitantei Conan Zero no shikkounin (360)

8) Owatta Hito (239)

9) Hitsuji to Hagane no Mori (318)

10) Peter Rabbit (311)

Source: Eiga.com

Supporting cast line-up of new movie "Soratobu Taiya" announced

The supporting cast line-up of new movie "Soratobu Taiya" starring TOKIO's Nagase Tomoya had been announced. The movie which is based on the same-titled bestseller novel by Ikeido Jun, features Nagase as the lead character Akamatsu Tokurou who is the president of a transportation company. One day, an accident involving his company's truck happens where a tyre comes loose and causes a housewife's death. This results in a lack of trust and wave of criticism directed at his company for alleged maintenance faults. However, when Akamatsu investigates the truck's structure as he suspects a problem, he finds out that the truck's manufacturer Hope Jidosha is hiding a critical recall issue. In order to protect his company, employees, family and seek justice for himself, he takes on Hope Jidosha which tries to conceal the truth. Dean Fujioka will be playing Sawada Yuta who is the customer strategy section chief of Hope Jidosha and will face off with Akamatsu who wants to prove Hope's wrongdoing. Although he is reluctant to entertain Akamatsu's request for a re-investigation, Sawada himself has doubts about the original investigation and does his own checks where he is then caught between his sense of justice and his responsibility as an employee of Hope. Takahashi Issei plays the role  Izaki Kazuaki who is working at the sales department of Hope bank's HQ and in charge of the account held by Hope Jidosha which is under the same group. As he suspects something wrong with Hope Jidosha, he conducts his own investigation calmly and tries to uphold justice.

As there are 37 actors and actresses mentioned in this announcement, here is the list and the roles they play:

Fukada Kyoko - Akamatsu Fumie (Tokurou's wife)
Takamura Kaito - The Akamatsus' son
Muro Tsuyoshi - Komaki Shigemichi (Employee of Hope Jidosha's car manufacturing department)
Abe Aran (Johnny's Jr) - Kadota Shunichi (Technician of Akamatsu Transportation)
Kishide Ittoku - Karino Takeshi (Executive director of Hope Jidosha)
Sasano Takashi - Miyashiro Naokichi (Managing director of Akamatsu Transportation)
Terawaki Yasufumi - Takahata Shinji (Police detective at Kohoku Chuo Police Station)
Koike Eiko - Enomoto Yuko (Reporter at Shuukan Chouryuu)
Nakamura Aoi - Sugimoto Hajime (Employee of Hope Jidosha's quality assurance department)
Enomoto Akira
Sasaki Kuranosuke
Wada Toshihiro
Kinoshita Houka
Asari Yousuke
Rokkaku Seiji
Ookura Koji
Tsuda Kanji
Masu Takeshi
Tanimura Mitsuki
Kondo Kouen
Murasugi Seminosuke
Watanabe Dai
Yano Masato
Taguchi Hiromasa
Saito Ayumu
Okayama Amane
Yajima Kenichi
Tsukayama Masane
Maiguma Katsuya
Kato Man
Tsutsui Takumi
Nakabayashi Taiki
Inoue Hajime
Kokubo Joji
Takagawa Yuya
Kinoshita Takayuki (TKO)
Kimoto Takehiro (TKO)
Ikegami Sarii

The filming of the movie ended in late April and the post-production will be completed by early 2018.

Sources: Eiga.com / My Navi News / Oricon

Takahashi Issei to appear in new movie "Soratobu Taiya"

Takahashi Issei will be appearing in the new movie "Soratobu Taiya" starring Nagase Tomoya which will be shown in cinemas next year. Takahashi and Nagase had worked together in the past in dramas such as "Ikebukuro West Gate Park" and "Handoku!!".

The movie which is based on the same-titled bestseller novel by Ikeido Jun, features Nagase as the lead character Akamatsu Tokurou who is the president of a transportation company. One day, an accident involving his company's truck happens where a tyre comes loose and causes a housewife's death. This results in a lack of trust and wave of criticism directed at his company for alleged maintenance faults. However, when Akamatsu investigates the truck's structure as he suspects a problem, he finds out that the truck's manufacturer Hope Jidosha is hiding a critical recall issue. In order to protect his company, employees, family and seek justice for himself, he takes on Hope Jidosha which tries to conceal the truth. Dean Fujioka will be playing Sawada Yuta who is the customer strategy section chief of Hope Jidosha and will face off with Akamatsu who wants to prove Hope's wrongdoing. Although he is reluctant to entertain Akamatsu's request for a re-investigation, Sawada himself has doubts about the original investigation and does his own checks where he is then caught between his sense of justice and his responsibility as an employee of Hope.

Takahashi plays the role  Izaki Kazuaki who is working at the sales department of Hope bank's HQ and in charge of the account held by Hope Jidosha which is under the same group. As he suspects something wrong with Hope Jidosha, he conducts his own investigation calmly and tries to uphold justice.

Takahashi described his character as a man with a lot of hidden strength and strong beliefs which are not readily seen by others. As such, he hopes to be able to show this side of Izaki's character through his acting and earn the affirmation by the director. Since this is the third time that Takahashi is participating in a Ikeido drama adaptation (the previous works were "Tetsu no Hone" and "Tamiou"), he feels an affinity with Ikeido's works which describes important elements of society and human nature. He feels that this will be a very special movie which will show various sides of human beings given the number of characters featured in the story.

Source: Eiga.com

Dean Fujioka to appear in real-life adaptation movie "Soratobu Taiya"

Dean Fujioka will be appearing in the real-life adaptation movie "Soratobu Taiya" based on the bestseller novel by Ikeido Jun and features TOKIO's Nagase Tomoya as the lead. This will be the first collaboration between Nagase and Fujioka.

Nagase will be playing the lead character Akamatsu Tokurou who is the president of a transportation company. One day, an accident involving his company's truck happens where a tyre comes loose and causes a housewife's death. This results in a lack of trust and wave of criticism directed at his company for alleged maintenance faults. However, when Akamatsu investigates the truck's structure as he suspects a problem, he finds out that the truck's manufacturer Hope Jidosha is hiding a critical recall issue. In order to protect his company, employees, family and seek justice for himself, he takes on Hope Jidosha which tries to conceal the truth.

Fujioka will be playing Sawada Yuta who is the customer strategy section chief of Hope Jidosha and will face off with Akamatsu who wants to prove Hope's wrongdoing. Although he is reluctant to entertain Akamatsu's request for a re-investigation, Sawada himself has doubts about the original investigation and does his own checks where he is then caught between his sense of justice and his responsibility as an employee of Hope.

Nagase praised his co-star for having no airs and a high level of concentration when filming. In addition, Fujioka is very approachable and Nagase feels that they have many things in common. On the other hand, Fujioka also said that Nagase is a perfect fit for the character Akamatsu since they are both passionate men. In the movie, there will be a confrontation scene which does not appear in the novel which both actors feel will be meaningful and significant to the story. Other than this, the two of them hardly have any scenes together.

Filming wrapped up in the end of April and post-production works are expected to be completed in this autumn. The movie will be shown in cinemas next year.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi / Eiga.com

TOKIO's Nagase Tomoya to star in movie version of "Soratobu Taiya"

TOKIO's Nagase Tomoya will be starring in the movie version of "Soratobu Taiya" (The tyre which flew into the sky) based on the same-titled novel by Ikeido Jun published in 2006. This will be the first movie adaptation of Ikeido's works and it will be shown in cinemas next year. The novel was made into a drama by WOWOW in 2009 starring Nakamura Tooru. The production crew had approached Ikeido three years ago about making a movie from his works thus he suggested this novel to the crew.

Nagase will be playing the lead character Akamatsu Tokurou who is the president of a transportation company. One day, an accident involving his company's truck happens where a tyre comes loose and causes a housewife's death. This results in a lack of trust and wave of criticism directed at his company for alleged maintenance faults. However, when Akamatsu investigates the truck's structure as he suspects a problem, he finds out that the truck's manufacturer Hope Jidosha is hiding a critical recall issue. In order to protect his company, employees, family and seek justice for himself, he takes on Hope Jidosha which tries to conceal the truth.

Nagase commented that he is very honoured to be able to play Akamatsu who is about the same age as him so he can identify with the feelings which the latter has and his refusal to give up in his bid to uphold justice. As such, he will try his best to act in this movie as what he always does. Filming is expected to begin in the middle of this month and wrap up by April. The rest of the cast lineup will be announced at a later date.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi / Eiga.com