In 2023, Japan's box office
experienced a 4 percent increase, reaching a post-pandemic high of $1.5 billion
(221.5 billion yen). This growth was fueled by a robust lineup of anime and a
gradual return to theaters. Hollywood films maintained a consistent market
share of around 31 percent compared to the previous year. However, due to a
weakened yen, earnings in dollar terms were reduced.
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| 'Godzilla Minus One' |
The decline in the Japanese currency, approaching the 150-mark against the U.S. dollar, resulted in the annual box office being lower than the previous year's $1.64 billion, despite an increase in yen takings from 213 billion yen. Imported films, totaling 676 productions, generated $452 million, while 555 domestic productions earned $995 million.
The Motion Picture Producers
Association of Japan, locally known as Eiren, announced the 2023 box office
figures in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The top-grossing film of 2023 was
The First Slam Dunk, an anime produced by Toei, based on a popular basketball
manga, with earnings reaching $107 million. Following closely were The Super
Mario Bros. Movie with $95 million and the latest installment in the Detective
Conan anime series with $94 million. These three films were the only ones to
surpass the significant 10 billion yen ($68 million) benchmark for domestic
blockbusters in 2023. Despite this, the overall box office takings were the
second-highest, trailing only the all-time high of $1.77 billion (261 billion
yen) recorded in 2019.
Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron secured the fourth spot with $58 million, while Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, earning $37 million, was the sole Hollywood movie to make it into the top 10.
In 2023, total admissions in
Japan's box office increased by 2 percent to reach 155.5 million, and the
number of screens slightly increased to 3,653.
The unexpected success of "Godzilla Minus One" in the American
market was a notable topic at the announcement event. Hiroyasu Matsuoka, CEO of
Toho, the studio behind Godzilla, stated that the film's success contributed to
group theatrical earnings surpassing 100 billion yen ($680 million) for the
first time.
"Godzilla Minus One" earned more than $55 million in the United States, becoming the third highest-grossing non-English language film in the U.S. market. It surpassed the Oscar-winner "Parasite" and set multiple records, including the biggest opening weekend for a foreign film. Matsuoka expressed confidence in the potential of Japanese films and intellectual property (IP) following this success.
Regarding the unexpected success of
"Godzilla Minus One,"
Hiroyasu Matsuoka noted, "We really didn’t think it would be such a big
hit, to be honest." He attributed the film's success to the high
recognition of the Godzilla name, as well as benefiting from reduced
competition due to the Hollywood strike.
Matsuoka also mentioned the impact
of streaming platforms, stating, "The
rise of streaming platforms has helped make global audiences more receptive to
reading subtitles and watching non-English content."
Fumio Yoshimura, CEO of TOEI,
emphasized the strength of anime and outlined the company's plans for further
global expansion, leveraging intellectual property (IP) such as Power Rangers
and samurai films.
