Japan box office down 6.5% to $1.3bn in 2024 due to Hollywood shortfall

Japan’s box office fell 6.5% to $1.33bn (¥207bn) in 2024 due to a large drop in takings for US features, despite strong earnings for local titles.

Overall admissions were 7.1% down to 144.4 million, according to data published by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren). The figures remain some distance from pre-pandemic 2019, when the gross box office was $1.55bn (¥242bn) from 195 million admissions.

Scroll down for the top 30 titles

It was a positive picture for Japanese films, which took $1bn (¥156bn) at the local box office, up 5.1% year-on-year and comprising 75% of total takings. Topping the chart was anime Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram, which grossed $101.8m (¥15.8bn).

However, this could not make up for a shortfall in imported features, which drew $329m (¥51.1bn) from 505 titles – down from $472m (¥73.7bn) from 556 titles in 2023. The only two non-Japanese features to make the top 10 were Inside Out 2 with $34.8m (¥5.4bn) and Despicable Me 4 with $29.2m (¥4.53bn).

Announcing the annual figures, Eiren representative director and Toho chairperson Yoshishige Shimatani said the underperformance stemmed from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in late 2023, which halted or delayed production on many features.

Toho president Hiro Matsuoka added that the pandemic is also an enduring influence, as that period featured few non-Japanese releases, while Japanese hits such as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train whetted audiences’ appetite for local product.

The increased numbers for Japanese films was led largely by titles distributed by Toho. Company president Matsuoka also touted the distributor’s foreign box office takings from films like The Boy And The Heron, distributed by US-based Gkids, which was purchased by Toho in October.

The export value of Japanese films among Eiren’s four member companies (Toho, Toei, Shochiku and Kadokawa) was also up year-over-year, at $540m – a 12% increase on 2023.

Cinema screenings of non-feature film content such as pre-recorded concerts generated $159m (¥24.7bn). The most successful was The White Lounge In Cinema, a concert from Japanese band Mrs. Green Apple, which netted $12.2m (¥1.9bn) for Shochiku.

Shibatani further predicted that 2025 would see a renewed interest in non-Japanese films via titles such as Captain America: Brave New World, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Avatar: Fire and Ash and Jurassic World Rebirth.

Japan box office: top 30 films (Dec 2023-Dec 2024)

Non-Japanese titles in bold

Source: Eiren
USD based on Jan 29, 2025 exchange rate

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