The First Slam Dunk anime film, based on Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk manga, is causing a stir at the box office. The film has been a hit both in Japan and South Korea, selling over 6.87 million tickets in Japan and 2.43 million tickets in South Korea as of February 7th.
In Japan, the film opened on December 3rd and immediately ranked #1 on its opening weekend. The film sold 847,000 tickets and earned an impressive 1,295,808,780 yen (about US $9.50 million) over its opening weekend. As of Tuesday, the film has earned more than 10 billion yen (about US $76.21 million) and is currently the #43 highest-earning film of all time in Japan and the #13 highest-earning anime film of all time in Japan.
South Korea has also welcomed the film with open arms. It opened on January 4th and in its fourth weekend, it ranked #1, beating out Avatar: The Way of Water. As of Sunday, the film has earned a total of US$19,309,822 in South Korea.
The film was personally directed by Inoue and produced by Toei Animation. Inoue also wrote the script for the film, ensuring that the story stays true to the original manga. The film was created with the help of a talented team of staff members:
- Character designer and animation director Yasuyuki Ebara (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress),
- Technical directors Katsuhiko Kitada (Attack on Titan episodes, Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot), Naoki Miyahara (Digimon Adventure, Popin Q), Toshio Ōhashi (LayereD Stories 0), and Yū Kamatani (Looking for Magical DoReMi, Precure Super Stars!)
- CG director Daiki Nakazawa
- CG producer Yūta Ogura
- Art director Kazuo Ogura
- Sound director Yota Tsuruoka with Koji Kasamatsu.
The Japan Academy Film Prize Association for excellence in film has also taken notice of the film’s success, and has nominated it for Animation of the Year in its 46th annual awards.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun’s Mantan Web
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