Given the source material being Nintendo, all eyes were on Japan to see how the Japanese audience would be receptive to The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Since the release of the film in theaters on April 28th, the film has made JPY10 billion ($71 million) in about a month according to distributor Toho-Towa.
The film’s success is recognized due to it being the fastest non-Japanese animated film to make such a profit within the country, which surpassed Frozen and Frozen 2. Although Toho-Towa has not stated what the anticipated final earnings for the film will be, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is still very behind Japan’s own Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train that was released in 2020 and earned JPY40.4 billion ($288 million).
Regardless, the Nintendo-based film’s optimistic success and hopeful continuous growth is promising for all American films due to them being almost completely absent from the Japanese film market throughout the pandemic. According to Variety, it was only until last year that the United States held 30% of the market.
With that, the next prominent film to be aware of within Japan is the live-action adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid based off the 1989 film of the same name. The film is set to release on June 9th, and because of Disney’s successful track record with their other live-action adaptations, many are anticipating that The Little Mermaid will make a high profit.
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