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The First Slam Dunk Tops Last Evangelion Film as #12 All-Time Anime Film in Japan

The First Slam Dunk, the new anime film of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk basketball manga, has sold about 7.11 million tickets for more than 10.3 billion yen (about US$77.57 million). With this milestone, the film has surpassed the Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 film as the #12 highest-earning anime film in Japan. It is now the 38th highest-earning film of all time in Japan.

The film opened in Japan on December 3, and ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 847,000 tickets and earned 1,295,808,780 yen (about US$9.50 million) over its opening weekend.

Inoue personally directed the film at Toei Animation and wrote the script. 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 directed the CG, and Yūta Ogura produced the CG. Kazuo Ogura directed the art. Yota Tsuruoka directed the sound with Koji Kasamatsu.

The Japan Academy Film Prize Association for excellence in film nominated the film for Animation of the Year in its 46th annual awards.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web