The Haikyu!! movie continues to dominate at the box office, scoring yet more records in Japan – the latest being one belonging to none other than Disney itself.
We expected Haikyu!!’s jump to theatres to be big. After all, the anime show left us on a major cliffhanger that the upcoming films would address. But I don’t think anyone knew the sports anime was going to hit the box office as hard as it has.
On opening weekend, Haikyu!! the Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump landed right below Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, and Demon Slayer. Strong company, and the anime movie has continued to impress by leapfrogging a global phenomenon in Japan.
Haikyu!! movie beats Frozen at Japan box office
Haikyu: The Dumpster Battle has now crossed 5.1 billion yen in Japan. In a 17 day period, that’s more than the 5 billion yen made by Frozen, Disney’s 2013 powerhouse that’s currently the fourth highest-grossing film ever in Japan.
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Haikyu!! still has some way to go to beat Frozen outright – Anna and Elsa’s fairytale landed just over $250 million total, where Haikyu!! is at $33.94 million. But for a picture like this, those are impressive numbers. Though popular, Haikyu!! didn’t standout as a major franchise before now, and the movie seems, like it’d appeal more to established fans, since it’s the conclusion of four seasons of storytelling.
For context, the film covers a major volleyball match between two rival schools, one that’s been teased since the first episode of the show. While it’s great this was saved for a movie, that could be a hard sell for casual audiences. So far, it seems uninhibited by this success, and I’ll be curios to see if such legs hold in global markets.
So far, there’s been no indication off an international release date, but we’ll keep you informed. Keep an eye on our guides to Tower of God Season 2 and My Hero Academia Season 7 for more of this year’s most anticipated releases.
