Cinema Box Office Revenue for 2020 at Record Low

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:12 JST, December 15, 2020

The box office revenue of films released at the nation’s cinemas this year is set to hit a record low since the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Inc. started announcing the figure in 2000, according to an estimate by the association.

The association said the slump was caused by the closure of movie theaters for an extended period due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that few foreign blockbusters were released in Japan.

According to the association, the box office revenues of 12 major film distributors in the country totaled less than ¥110 billion at the end of November, making it unlikely the annual sum will surpass the lowest annual figure on record, which was ¥170.86 billion in 2000.

Last year, the Japanese film scene was blessed with many hit movies and saw a record high ¥261.18 billion in box office revenue. The figure this year is likely to be slightly more than half that amount.

Up through 1999, the industry did not release annual box office revenue. Instead, it released the annual distribution revenue each year, which was calculated by deducting the amount retained by theaters and other figures from box office revenue.

■ ‘Demon Slayer’ notches ¥30 bil.

The box office revenue of the anime film “Demon Slayer — Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Mugen Train,” based on the popular manga “Kimetsu no Yaiba” (Demon Slayer), topped ¥30 billion in the first 59 days since its Oct. 16 theatrical release, according to the film’s distributors Toho Co. and Aniplex Inc.

The box office revenue up to Dec. 13 was about ¥30.29 billion. The only other film to earn more than ¥30 billion at the Japanese box office was the anime “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (Spirited Away), which hit the ¥30 billion mark on the 253rd day after its release.