Japanese anime ‘Haikyu!! The battle of the dumpsters has opened wide in China

Japanese anime returned to the top of the Chinese box office this weekend with a volleyball film Haikyuu!! The battle of the dumpsters dominated ticket sales during a difficult period for cinema releases in the country. Released on Saturday, the imported film won the Friday-Sunday slot with a top prize of $9.8 million, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Local comedy for young people, Be my friend, from Wanda Pictures, took second place with $4 million. And the internationally acclaimed offbeat drama from Chinese hitmaker Guan Hu Black Dogwhich won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May, opened as a niche arthouse offering, taking in $2.4 million over two days for seventh place.

Haikyuu!! The battle of the dumpsters is an adaptation of the popular manga by Japanese artist Haruichi Furudate Haikyu!! and serves as a sequel to an earlier anime television series adaptation. The feature film is written and directed by Susumu Mitsunaka and jointly produced by Production IG, Toho Animation and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. In most countries around the world, the theatrical release was handled by Sony’s Crunchyroll, but Beijing-based specialty distributor Road Pictures, which has recently focused on anime, handled the China release alongside from the state-backed China Film Corporation.

Directed by He Nian, Be my friend is an adaptation of the popular Chinese television series of the same name. After nine days on Chinese screens, it grossed $20.8 million.

Police comedy Walk the lineby filmmaker Wubai, came in third in its second weekend, adding $3.6 million for a total of $21.3 million. Crisis negotiatorsa Hong Kong remake of the F. Gary Gray film The negotiatorcame in fourth with $2.7 million and a two-weekend total of $17.6 million.

Warner Bros.’ Furiosa: A Mad Max saga, which opened on June 7 in China, continued its descent in the country’s box office rankings. Although it received relatively high social scores from those who saw it, the film only grossed about $6.5 million.

As of Monday, China’s total year-to-date ticket revenue was $3.2 billion, down 2.7% from the same period in 2023. Upcoming U.S. studio releases in China include the Pixar film. Inside Out 2 June 21 and Bad Boys 4 on June 22.