So before the holiday season blockbusters kick in, let's summarize the
fall box office results of some of the major Hogas, with the data/estimates
taken from eiga.com and several other articles.
NANA (9/3)
Cast: Mika Nakashima, Aoi Miyazaki
Director: Kentaro Oya
Manga-based movies have already established its position firmly in Japan, and "NANA" has become the most recent success story in this genre. Based on the popular manga by Ai Yazawa, NANA is feverishly supported by young girls of the same age group as the heroins, both named Nana. The theme song sung by the main cast Mika Nakashima also hit the top of the chart together with the movie. It still is running in theaters, and is expected to show a heated competition for the top Hoga position in 2005 with Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi, which has made a little over 4 billion yen earlier this year.
Historical mega-hit "Odoru (English titile: Bayside Shakedown) Series" latest spin-off movie "Suspect Muroi Shinji" started great but a bit slowed down after that, and is looking to finish a little lower than its predecessor "Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi" which was released in spring 2005. It focuses on a relatively low-key police detective in the series and can be characterized as a court drama rather than a crime-action movie.
Always -Sunset on the Third Street- (11/5)
Cast: Hidetaka Yoshioka, Koyuki
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Although it also is based on the popular manga like "NANA", "Always" appeals to wider age groups and is looking to reach 2 billion yen level with the current running rate. The film pictures the people's lives in downtown Tokyo in the high-hope but low-money 1950's. CG-based half-constructed Tokyo Tower induces modern audience's nostalgy for this simple era.
A Heartful of Love (10/8)
Cast: Hideaki Ito, Mimura
Director: Akihiko Shiota
Directed and produced by mostly the same team as "Yomigaeri", the story is about a guy who time-slips into 20 years ago and finds his young-day love. The box office is estimated as about the half of "Yomigaeri", which corresponds to approx. 1.5 bil. yen, a little disappointing for the production team but not bad for a Hoga of this scale.
This Shuhei Fujisawa-based samurai drama has done well for this genre and is expected to surpass 1 bil. yen mark. Please see the below editor's comment for more details.
Snowy Love Fallin' in Spring (10/29)
Cast: Satoru Tsumabuki, Yuko Takeuchi
Director: Isao Yukisada
Although the box office is estimated as a modest 500mil. yen, it is considered relatively good for this type of classic story. "Spring Snow" is a prohibited love story between a young nobles, based on Yukio Mishima's novel. Isao Yukisada who directed the mega-hit "Crying out Love, in the Center of the World" calls the film his passion.
SHINOBI (9/17)
Cast: Yukie Nakama, Joe Odagiri
Director: Ten Shimoyama
The result 1.5bil. yen is not so bad compared to other hogas, but the problem is the way the fund was raised. It was the first Japanese film which utilized "movie fund" sold to individual investors, permitted under the new Japanese law that was enacted to encourage investment into movies. To attract individual investors, they set the minimum guaranteed return, and because of that, they had to reach 2 bil. box office sales to reach breakeven. They still can make up with DVD sales later, but it correlates to the box office, so the fund is expected to lose money almost for sure.
As sort of expected, "TAKESHI's" does not look to reach even
500 mil. yen mark. Japanese media took up this movie only because it is
by Takeshi who has a clout among international fans, and because it made
a surprise entry to Venezia Film Festival, not because it is drawing attention
from Japanese audience.
