THE FIRST SLAM DUNK Rises to Become 5th Highest-Grossing Anime Film of All Time
The underdog of a team continues to score basket after basket as THE FIRST SLAM DUNK became the fifth highest-grossing anime film worldwide this past weekend, overtaking One Piece Film Red for the spot. Not only that, but the Toei Animation-produced film also rose to the 19th highest-grossing film in Japan of all time.
As of April 30, THE FIRST SLAM DUNK has grossed 13.53 billion yen (US$102.91 million). Thanks to its astounding run in China, grossing US$82.52 million in less than two weeks, as well as South Korea’s US$35.74 million gross and Taiwan’s US$14.9 million, around Asia in 10 territories THE FIRST SLAM DUNK has made US$251.52 million.
This pushes THE FIRST SLAM DUNK past One Piece Film Red’s US$245.27 million to become the fifth highest-grossing anime film of all time worldwide, where it sits right below Suzume, which is also currently playing in theaters across the world. This also makes half of the top six highest-grossing anime films of all time list populated by movies that were released in 2022 alone.
RELATED: THE FIRST SLAM DUNK Gets North American Theatrical Release Later this Summer
The original Slam Dunk TV anime aired from 1993 to 1996, with four anime films being spun off from the original anime. You can catch an on-demand replay of the TV anime right here on Crunchyroll.
THE FIRST SLAM DUNK opened in Japan on December 3, 2022, in regular and IMAX theaters and expanded to Dolby Cinema screens on December 10. The film will be headed to the UK, Ireland and Malta from Anime Limited and Toei Animation Europe this Summer with GKIDS releasing it in North America at the same time and describing the film like so:
Shohoku’s “speedster” and point guard, Ryota Miyagi, always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older. Following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.
In his second year of high school, Ryota plays with the Shohoku High School basketball team along with Sakuragi, Rukawa, Akagi, and Mitsui as they take the stage at the Inter-High School National Championship. And now, they are on the brink of challenging the reigning champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School.
Sources: Kogyo Tsushin, ENT Group, KOBIZ
—-
Daryl Harding is a Senior Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
