The release of One Piece Film: Red, the newest film in the hit anime series, has become the highest-grossing success of the franchise thus far.
One Piece has always been incredibly popular. The 24-year-old ongoing manga by Eiichiro Oda, which follows the sea-sailing adventures of the stretchy superpowered Monkey D. Luffy as he attempts to become the Pirate King, even broke a Guinness World Record recently for the number of copies it has in circulation.
The anime is equally as influential, having begun in 1999, and still going strong 1,000 episodes later. There’s even a live-action adaptation of the anime coming to Netflix soon.
The series has also created many of its own anime films, with the most recent one, One Piece Film: Red, having opened in Japan last week. And from the looks of the box office, the movie appears to be having a very successful run.
One Piece Film: Red becomes highest-grossing movie in the franchise after huge box office debut
The film, which opened in IMAX theatres in Japan, managed to rank top of the box office during its opening weekend. The film sold 1.58 million tickets and earned 2.254 billion yen – around $16.7 million – in its first two days.
And now, it has become the highest-grossing film in the entire decades-long franchise, after just 10 days in cinemas.
The film’s official Twitter has shared that it has already outsold five million tickets, and earned around seven billion yen, which is equivalent to $52.9 million. In comparison, a previous One Piece film, Z, only made $6.87 million back in 2012.
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The newest film’s success could be for any reason, from its bigger global scale, to its use of popular music, or even that the film centers around “Red-Hair” Shanks, a fan favorite character, which gives him the biggest role he’s ever had throughout the entire One Piece story.
The number of people rushing to the cinema could also be due to the announcement that One Piece is entering its final saga soon, leaving fans hurrying to consume as much One Piece while they still can.
As of now, the film is on trajectory to make around 15 billion yen, which would put it ahead of other popular anime films such as Jujutsu Kaisen 0 run – but it is still behind Demon Slayer: Mugen Train.
When and where can I watch One Piece Film: Red?
If you don’t live in Japan, Crunchyroll is planning to theatrically screen the film in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand this fall.
The screenings will be available both subbed and dubbed.