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Live-Action Usogui Debuts at #5, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Film Stays at #1

The Gekijō-ban Jujutsu Kaisen 0 anime film stayed at #1 in its eighth weekend. The film sold 159,000 tickets and earned 226 million yen (about US$1.95 million) over the weekend.

The movie has earned 11 billion yen (about US$95.3 million) since it opened on December 24, and is currently the 27th highest-grossing film in Japan of all time.

The film is now the #1 highest-earning film at the Japanese box office from the 2021 calendar year, after surpassing Evangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Time, according to the Mainichi Shimbun paper's Mantan Web.

The film earned 2,694,128,150 yen (about US$23.5 million) in its first three days, and topped the box office chart for its opening weekend. The film also has IMAX, 4D, and Dolby Cinema screenings. The film will open with English subtitles and with an English dub in the U.S. and Canada on March 18.

The film is based on Gege Akutami's Jujutsu Kaisen 0 Tokyo Toritsu Jujutsu Kōtō Senmon Gakkō (Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Tokyo Prefectural Jujutsu High School) manga prequel story, with MAPPA animating again and Toho distributing. Viz Media released the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manga in January 2021, and it describes the story:

Yuta Okkotsu is a nervous high school student who is suffering from a serious problem—his childhood friend Rika has turned into a Curse and won't leave him alone. Since Rika is no ordinary Curse, his plight is noticed by Satoru Gojo, a teacher at Jujutsu High, a school where fledgling exorcists learn how to combat Curses. Gojo convinces Yuta to enroll, but can he learn enough in time to confront the Curse that haunts him?

Megumi Ogata voiced the main character Yuta Okkotsu, and Kana Hanazawa voiced the character Rika Orimoto.

The live-action film of Toshio Sako's Usogui (The Lie Eater) manga debuted at #5 in its opening weekend.

The film opened last Friday. A companion live-action four-episode web series titled Usogui -Kurama Ranko-hen/Kaji Takaomi-hen- (The Lie Eater -Ranko Kurama's Story/Takaomi Kaji's Story) began streaming on the dTV streaming service on the same day.

The film stars Ryūsei Yokohama as the protagonist Baku Madarame. Hayato Sano plays Baku's partner Takaomi Kaji. Hideo Nakata (Ring, Dark Water, L change the WorLd) directed the film. B'z performed the film's theme song "Live."

The story of Usogui follows a brilliant gambler named Baku "Usogui" Madarame as he lays down his life as the wager for various games.

Sako began the Usogui manga in 2006, and ended it in December 2017. The manga has 49 volumes. Sako launched a spinoff manga titled Usogui -Rikkainin Yakō Hikoichi- (The Lie Eater: Referree Hikoichi Yakō) in Weekly Young Jump in October 2021, and ended it in November 2021. The main manga inspired an original video animation (OVA) bundled with the manga's 26th volume in 2012.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, the first live-action film reboot of CAPCOM's Resident Evil survival horror game franchise, fell from #6 to #9 in its third weekend.

The film opened in Japan on January 28.

The film opened in the United States on November 24, delayed from its originally scheduled September 3 release.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is set in the late 1990s with the following story introduction:

In the once booming home of the pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company's exodus left the city a wasteland…with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, the townspeople are forever…changed…and a small group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.

Shika no Ō: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi (The Deer King: The Promised Journey With Yuna), the anime film of Nahoko Uehashi's Shika no Ō (The Deer King) medical fantasy novel series, dropped from #7 to #10 in its second weekend.

The film was delayed from a September 2020 opening due to the ongoing new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and delayed again from September 2021. GKIDS will theatrically screen the film with both English subtitles and an English dub in North America in early 2022.

Masashi Ando (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, your name. character design; Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent, When Marnie Was There, your name. animation director) directed the film alongside Masayuki Miyaji (Xam'd: Lost Memories, Fusé: Memoirs of a Huntress) at Production I.G. Ando also drew the character designs, and was the chief animation director. Taku Kishimoto (Haikyu!!, ERASED, Fruits Basket) penned the script. Harumi Fuuki (Forest of Piano series, Miss Hokusai, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna) composed the music. Singer-songwriter milet created the theme song "One Reason" for the film.

The live-action film of Tetsuya Tsutsui's noise manga dropped off the top 10 in its third weekend.

The second part of The Orbital Children (Chikyūgai Shōnen Shōjo or Extra-Terrestrial Boys & Girls), director and writer Mitsuo Iso's first new original anime since 2007's Dennō Coil, debuted at #1 last weekend on the mini-theater rankings.

The anime is screening in two parts theatrically in Japan. The first part opened on January 28, and the second part opened on February 11. Each part will screen for two weeks only in theaters. The theatrical project also has a simultaneous release on Blu-ray Disc and DVD.

Netflix also debuted the anime outside of Japan on January 28 as a six-episode series.

Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), Eiga.com