Haikyuu! movie matches One Piece Film: Red's opening weekend box office as it dominates Japanese cinemas

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Any time your anime gets mentioned in the same breath as One Piece, things are probably going well for you, particularly when it comes to box office numbers. The latest entry in the Haikyuu!! series, Haikyuu!! the Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump, was on par with Luffy’s most recent theatrical outing in its first few days, equalling the opening weekend box office takings for One Piece Film: Red.

Haikyuu!! the Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump earned an impressive 2.23 billion yen ($14.86 million) in its first three days in Japanese cinemas. This put it equal to One Piece Film: Red’s opening weekend earnings in 2022. While these numbers don’t sound huge compared to some US releases, it is worth noting that Japanese films tend to stay in cinemas and build income slowly over several months.

Haikyuu!! numbers put it in pretty respectable company as the fourth-highest opening in Japanese history, behind One Piece Film: Red, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Mugen Train. While we don’t necessarily expect Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump to have the same staying power as One Piece or Demon Slayer, a strong opening like this gives it a good chance to break other box-office records further down the line.

With all this excitement, we’re all eager to see when we can see the movie ourselves. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any word about an international release for Haikyuu!! the Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump, but these numbers at the Japanese box office certainly make it more likely that we’ll get to see an official localization in the coming months.

Haikyuu!! the Movie: Decisive Battle at the Garbage Dump is expected to be the first of two films that will adapt the remaining chapters of the manga left over when the previous anime series ended in 2020. Whether the opening weekend numbers for the film make the studio rethink this plan and greenlight more movies or series is pure speculation at this point, but it is clear that the appetite from fans hasn't gone away.

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