Although the pandemic is not yet over in Japan, this year the local film market returned to a semblance of pre-pandemic normality. Hollywood films, which had mostly disappeared from the box-office top 10 rankings in 2020 and 2021, came roaring back in 2022, led by the Tom Cruise-starring hit ¡°Top Gun: Maverick.¡±
Opening May 27, the film earned ?13.5 billion, the second-highest total for the year according to figures compiled by the film site . Four other Hollywood films made it onto the site¡¯s top 10 for 2022; last year, there was only one: ¡°Fast & Furious 9.¡±
The year¡¯s box-office champion, however, was once again an anime film: ¡°One Piece Film Red.¡± It made ?18.7 billion following its Aug. 6 release, the highest-ever gross in the venerable ¡°One Piece¡± franchise, and the sixth highest of all time in Japan for an anime feature. (The all-time box-office leader, in any category, is 2020¡¯s ¡°Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train¡± with ?40.4 billion.)
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.