Toei Animation announced on January 11, that its box office revenue for the year 2022, from January 1st to December 31st, has set a new record of 32.56 billion yen (approximately $310 million USD).

It has surpassed the previous record of 17.98 billion yen set in 2009. As of September 30th, 2022, the company’s box office revenue stood at 22.05 billion yen, having already broken the previous record, but the figures from the end of the year show a significant increase.

Furthermore, the annual number of theatergoers was 23.65 million.

This new record surpasses the previous high set in 2009, which saw the release of popular films such as ONE PIECE FILM STRONG WORLD, KATANA: The Tales of the Masterless Samurai, and KAMEN RIDER DECADE/SAMURAI SENTAI SHINKENGER.

One of the major contributors to Toei Animation’s record-breaking year was the new film ONE PIECE FILM RED, based on the popular manga series ONE PIECE by Eiichiro Oda, which continued its long-running success since its August 6, 2022 release and has grossed 19 billion yen as of January 10, 2022.

The official website of One Piece also released a new poster to commemorate the achievement which includes Zoro and Sanji:

It has become the highest-selling and highest-earning film installment in the franchise, and is currently ranked #6 among all-time highest-earning anime films in Japan and #9 among all-time highest-earning films in Japan.

The film was released in Japan on August 6, 2022, and has completed 157 days in theatres and will end its run theatrical run on January 29.

It was released in the United States and Canada on November 4, and in Australia and New Zealand on November 3, where it earned $12,768,073 in its second week and reached #8 at the U.S. box office.

The movie is said to be earning well in European market as well.

The EMEA Community Marketing Manager of Crunchyroll, René Kayser, posted an update on LinkedIn stating that the One Piece Film Red has garnered over 100,000 attendees on its first day and is at the top of the movie rankings in Germany.

Another hit film was THE FIRST SLAM DUNK the new film adaptation of the basketball manga series SLAM DUNK by Takehiko Inoue, which grossed 1.29 billion yen in its first two days of release on December 3rd, 2022 and has exceeded 7.7 billion yen as of January 10th, 2022.

The movie has IMAX screenings in 40 theatres & Dolby Atmos screenings in 34 theatres across Japan. The Dolby Cinema screenings were added later on December 10.

This is the highest grossing movie of the franchise. The movie has beaten Kaguya-Sama Love Is War The Kiss That Never Ends, That Time I Reincarnated As A Slime: Scarlet Bond, One Piece Film Red and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Of The Water at the Japanese box office since its release.

The First Slam Dunk movie is followed by Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume No Tojimari movie.

MediaLink a Chinese distributor company announced that it will release The First Slam Dunk movie in Hong Kong and Macau on January 12.

The movie is based on the basketball manga SLAM DUNK serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump from 1990 to 1996.

The manga depicts the story of the main character Sakuragi Hanamichi, a basketball novice who joins the Shohoku High School basketball club, and how his talent rapidly blossoms as he clashes with his teammate Nagarekawa Kaede and competes against other strong schools.

The series has sold more than 120 million copies in Japan, and a TV anime of 101 episodes was broadcast from 1993 to 1996.

The manga was also made into a game. In 2006, the “Slam Dunk Scholarship” was established to support young basketball players. In 2018, Mr. Inoue newly drew the cover of the comic, “Redesigned version” (same), and in 2020, the illustration collection “PLUS / SLAM DUNK ILLUSTRATIONS 2” (same) was released. 

The new movie is directed and written by Inoue Takehiko, the author of the original story, and produced by Toei Animation/Dandelion Animation Studio.

Among the listed staff members are character designer/animation director Yasuyuki Ebara (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) and 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!).

Daiki Nakazawa is directing the CG, and Yūta Ogura is producing the CG. Kazuo Ogura is directing the art. Yota Tsuruoka is directing the sound with Koji Kasamatsu.

Additionally, details about two books that are related to the movie were also revealed.

The first book, titled SLAM DUNK JUMP, contains 24 select chapters of the 276 chapters from the manga, which form a basis for the movie’s plot. The book was released on Nov 8, 2022.

The second book, titled THE FIRST SLAM DUNK re:SOURCE, is described as special book which contains and analyzes the very fundamentals of the movie. It also contains illustrations drawn by Inoue during the films’ production process and also a lengthy interview. The book will be released on Dec 15, 2022.

The voice cast of the five members of Shohoku has been renewed from the TV anime version, with Sogo Nakamura as Ryota Miyagi, Jun Kasama as Hisashi Mitsui, Shinichiro Kamio as Kaede Ryukawa, Subaru Kimura as Hanamichi Sakuragi, and Kenta Miyake as Goken Akagi.

Whereas, the One Piece Film Red movie collected over 2 billion yen in its first weekend.

On Aug 11, PVR cinemas placed standees across multiple theatres in Mumbai revealing that One Piece Film Red will release in India in October 2022.

Goro Taniguchi returns to the franchise for the first time since 1998 to direct One Piece Film: Red. Tsutomu Kuroiwa will be in charge of the screenplay. TOEI Animation is animating the film with original author Eiichiro Oda serving as executive producer.

The other staff that have been announced for the movie include:

• Character Design & Animation Director: Masayuki Sato
• CGI Director: Kentaro Kawasaki
• Art Director: Hiroshi KatoMusic: Yasutaka Nakata
• Director of Photography: Tsunetaka Ema
• Color Design: Sayako Yokoyama.

The movie features and centers on the mysterious character Uta, who is teased to be Shanks daughter in the teaser. Uta is voiced by Kaori Nazuka (voice cast) and Ado (singing cast).

Crunchyroll describes the movie as:

Uta —the most beloved singer in the world. Renowned for concealing her own identity when performing, her voice has come to be described as “otherworldly.” Now, for the first time ever, Uta will reveal herself to the world at a live concert. As the venue fills with all kinds of Uta fans—excited pirates, the Navy watching closely, and the Straw Hats led by Luffy who simply came to enjoy her sonorous performance—the voice that the whole world has been waiting for is about to resound. The story begins with the shocking fact that she is Shanks’ daughter.

Source: Mantan Web