12.31 Million Viewers, 17.3 Billion Yen in Revenue
Record Broken After 22 Years
The film "National Treasure," directed by Korean-Japanese filmmaker Lee Sangil, has become the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film of all time.
On November 25, distributor Toho announced that as of the previous day, "National Treasure" had attracted 12.31 million viewers and earned a box office revenue of 17.37 billion yen (approximately 163.3 billion won). With this, "National Treasure" surpassed the record set by "Bayside Shakedown 2: Save the Rainbow Bridge!" (17.3 billion yen) in 2002, breaking the all-time box office record for Japanese live-action films after about 22 years. However, in the overall box office ranking, which includes animation and foreign films, it stands at 11th place.
According to the Japanese Box Office News Agency, the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan is "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train" (40.75 billion yen). The top three are all animated films, including "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle" (37.93 billion yen) and Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" (31.68 billion yen), followed by foreign films such as "Titanic" (27.77 billion yen).
Released on June 6, "National Treasure" is an adaptation of Shuichi Yoshida's novel of the same name and depicts the complex love and hate within the world of kabuki, a traditional Japanese performing art. Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama star in the leading roles.
Director Lee Sangil, a Korean-Japanese filmmaker known for works such as "Hula Girls," "Villain," and "Rage," also participated in directing Season 2 of the Apple TV+ original series "Pachinko."
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