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Belle Tops Japan Box Office for 3rd Straight Week, Shin-chan Debuts at #2

Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu's new Belle (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime, literally "The Dragon and the Freckled Princess") anime film stayed at #1 in its third straight weekend. The film earned 364,730,150 yen (about US$3.33 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 3,316,710,950 yen (about US$30.35 million).

The film opened at #1 at the Japanese box office. The film sold more than 600,000 tickets for more than 891,663,200 yen (about US$8.14 million) in its first three days. Its opening was bigger than that of Hosoda's highest-earning film, The Boy and the Beast which eventually ended its run with 5.85 billion yen (about US$53 million).

Belle opened in Japan on July 16. The film has IMAX screenings in 38 theaters throughout Japan. This makes Belle the first of Hosoda's films to have IMAX screenings. France's Cannes Film Festival first screened the film in the festival's Cannes Premiere section on July 15. It marked the first Official Selection at the festival for Hosoda. (The director's previous Mirai film screened at the Directors' Fortnight, an independent section held in parallel to the festival, in 2018.)

GKIDS licensed the film for North America, and will release the film in English and in Japanese with English subtitles this winter.

Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars,The Boy and the Beast, Mirai) directed and scripted the film, and is also credited for the original work. The film marks Studio Chizu's 10th anniversary. Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Dragon Pilot: Hisone and Masotan, The Naked Director) is the film's music director and composer.

Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Nazo Meki! Hana no Tenkasu Gakuen (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie - Shrouded in Mystery! The Flowers of Tenkazu Academy), the 29th film in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise, debuted at #2.

The film was originally slated to open in Japan on April 23, but was delayed due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic before opening on on July 30. The film earned 238,603,000 yen (about US$2.18 million) on Saturday and Sunday, and earned 307,303,000 yen (about US$2.81 million) from Friday to Sunday.

The film's story begins with Shinnosuke and friends experiencing a one-week stay as part of the "defense force" of Tenkatōitsu Kasukabe Private Academy (nicknamed "Tenkasu"), an elite boarding school that is administrated by a state-of-the-art AI. But when Kazama is attacked, with his intelligence reduced, and strange bite marks left on his butt, the mood begins to change. The Kasukabe defense force joins forces with the school's dropout student council president Chishio Atsuki to form a group of detectives and shed some light on the mystery.

Wataru Takahashi returned from many previous Crayon Shin-chan films as the director, with Kimiko Ueno also returning from 2019's Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shinkon Ryokō Hurricane and previous films as the scriptwriter. Macaroni Enpitsu performed the film's theme song "Hashirigaki" (Scribbling).

The live-action film of Ken Wakui's Tokyo Revengers manga dropped from #2 to #3 in its fourth weekend. The film earned 215,770,350 yen (about US$1.97 million) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 2,765,824,440 yen (about US$25.31 million). The film has sold more than 2 million tickets so far.

The film earned 696,434,440 yen (about US$6.31 million) in its first three days to top the Japanese box office in its opening weekend.

The film was slated to open in Japan last October, but was delayed to 2021 due to the effects of the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Japan. The production halted filming in April 2020 due to COVID-19. The film opened on July 9. Tsutomu Hanabusa (live-action Kakegurui, Miseinen Dakedo Kodomo ja Nai) directed the film. Rock band Super Beaver performed the film's theme song "Namae o Yobu yo" (I'll Call Your Name).

Wakui launched the manga in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine in March 2017. Kodansha Comics is publishing the manga digitally in English. The manga is also inspiring a television anime that premiered on April 10.

The Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity - Grand Temple of Time: Solomon (Fate/Grand Order -Kyūshoku Tokuiten Kani Jikan Shinden Solomon-) anime film debuted at #5. The film earned 102,829,100 yen (about US$941,200) on Saturday and Sunday, and earned 162,269,646 yen (about US$1.48 million) from Friday to Sunday.

Toshifumi Akai returned from the previous Fate/Grand Order -Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia- anime to direct the new film at Cloverworks, and Kinoko Nasu is credited for the original script. Tomoaki Takase is also back to design the characters with sub-character designs by Shōta Iwasaki, Masaaki Takiyama, and Taishi Kawakami. Yurie Hama served as chief animation director. Babylonia's Keita Haga and Ryo Kawasaki again composed the music.

The Fate/Grand Order Final Singularity - Grand Temple of Time: Solomon anime adapts the Fate/Grand Order smartphone game's "The Grand Temple of Time Solomon" story, which is the Final Singularity in the game's first part. The staff from Fate/Grand Order Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia anime returned to produce the new anime.

The live-action film of Mayu Murata's Honey Lemon Soda manga dropped from #4 to #7 (in tickets sold) in its fourth weekend. The film earned 42,637,360 yen (about US$390,200) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 768,498,420 yen (about US$7.03 million).

The film ranked at #4 in its opening weekend. The film earned 236,237,400 yen (about US$2.14 million) in its first three days. The film opened on July 9.

Kōji Shintoku (live-action Peach Girl, Honey So Sweet films) directed the film, with a script by Nami Kikkawa. Male idol group Snow Man performed the film's theme song "HELLO HELLO."

Murata launched the manga in Shueisha's Ribon magazine in December 2015.

The manga centers on Uka Ishimori, who did not have any good memories of her middle school years. Now 15 years old and in high school, Uka is trying to "graduate" from her past self, but it isn't going well. That's when she meets her classmate Kai, who has lemon-colored hair.

Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment's Godzilla vs. Kong film dropped from #5 to #9 in its fifth weekend. The film earned 41,231,500 yen (about US$377,400) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 1,747,559,050 yen (about US$15.99 million).

The film earned 464 million yen (about US$4.18 million) and topped the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. The film sold 293,000 tickets over the weekend, and 390,000 tickets over its first three days (including Friday). The film earned more than 600 million (about US$5.4 million) in its first three days. The film opened in Japan on July 2, delayed from its original May 14 opening.

The film has earned over US$100 million in the United States, where it opened on March 31. The film opened internationally on March 26 in territories where the HBO Max streaming service is not available.

Actor Shun Oguri (live-action Gintama, Gokusen, Hana Yori Dango) made his Hollywood acting debut as an "important role" in the film. The cast also includes Julian Dennison (Deapool 2), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), Demian Bichir (The Nun), Eiza González (Baby Driver), Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies), Rebecca Hall (The Prestige, Iron Man 3), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist), Kyle Chandler (The Wolf of Wall Street, Manchester by the Sea), Lance Reddick (Bosch, John Wick), Van Marten (Avengers: Infinity War), and Ziyi Zhang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

Adam Wingard (Death Note, The Guest, You're Next) directed the film.

Tobidase! Narase! Pui Pui Molcar, the Pui Pui Molcar stop-motion series' compilation film, dropped off the top 10 in its second weekend, but it still earned 31,398,300 yen (about US$287,300) from Friday to Sunday, and has earned a cumulative total of 158,599,500 yen (about US$1.45 million). While the film was originally only slated to run for a two-week limited engagement, its theatrical run was recently extended beyond that.

The Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway (Kidō Senshi Gundam: Senkō no Hathaway) anime film is still out of the top 10 in its eighth weekend, but has so far sold a total of 993,196 tickets to earn a cumulative total of 2,017,561,400 yen (about US$18.45 million). The film might become the highest-earning Gundam film so far, if it surpasses 1982's Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, which earned 2.3 billion yen.

Rurouni Kenshin Saishūshō The Beginning dropped off the top 10 in its ninth weekend. After returning to the top 10 in its 41st weekend last week, Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train is once again off the top 10 in its 42nd weekend.

The Fable: Korosanai Koroshiya, the second live-action film adaptation of Katsuhisa Minami's The Fable manga, did not rank in the top 10, but has sold more than 1 million tickets as of its seventh weekend last weekend. The film is nearing the 1.4 billion yen (about US$12.8 million) mark in earnings as of August 1.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2), The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web, Cinema Today (須田璃々) (link 2, 清水一), Eiga.com, comScore via KOFIC