Luffy and his Straw Hat pirate crew have added more treasure to the franchise’s coffers with the North American theatrical debut of One Piece Film Red, which weighed anchored to an impressive $9,323,267 in box office from U.S. and Canadian theaters. Produced by Toei Animation (Japan), the film is distributed in NorAm, Germany and Australia/New Zealand by Crunchyroll.
“One Piece is one of the most storied franchises in anime history, and Crunchyroll is thrilled that the film from our partners at Toei Animation saw success at the box office this past weekend,” said Mitchel Berger, SVP of Global Commerce, Crunchyroll. “To have the tremendous support of fans for One Piece Film Red continues the trend of anime leading the charge in audiences coming back to theaters and enjoying the big screen experience.”
The anime contender came in at No. 2 for the weekend, behind the latest DC blockbuster, Black Adam ($18.5 million).
The 15th film in the One Piece franchise, based on the record-breaking manga by Eiichiro Oda, is directed by Goro Taniguchi. The pic opened on 3,280 screens in 2,415 theaters across North America, buoyed by an “A” CinemaScore and a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating from both critics and audiences. One Piece Film Red is available to screen in Japanese with English subtitles and dubbed in English across an array of screens, including IMAX, 4DX, MX4D, Dolby Cinemas and DBox.
The last feature film release in the series, One Piece: Stampede, opened stateside as an event release in 2019, grossing $1.3 million.
Released in Japan on August 6, One Piece Film Red has since grossed over 18 billion yen, making it the country’s top film of 2022, highest-grossing One Piece movie and sixth highest-grossing anime movie of all time (ninth highest-grossing film of any genre).
“We were confident that One Piece Film Red would be a hit with U.S. and Canadian audiences and this weekend’s stellar opening proves it,” said Masayuki Endo, President & CEO of Toei Animation. “This is a history-making moment for the One Piece franchise and its most successful theatrical release ever. Over the last 23 years, the One Piece anime series has attracted an enormous global fan base and it continues to grow around the world — especially here in North America as illustrated by the film’s success.”
Synopsis: Uta — the most beloved singer in the world whose voice has been described as “otherworldly”—is renowned for concealing her own identity when performing. Now, for the first time ever, she will reveal herself to the world at a live concert.
With the Navy watching closely, the venue fills with Uta’s fans — including excited pirates and the Straw Hats led by Luffy, who simply came to enjoy her sonorous performance — all eagerly awaiting the voice that the whole world has been waiting for to resound. The story begins with the shocking revelation that she is the enigmatic Shanks’ daughter. Uta stands on the stage, with the ordinary wish of “making the world happy with my music.” There’s Gordon, a mysterious character who knows Uta’s past, and glimpses of Shanks’ shadow. On Elegia, the island of music, Luffy and Uta reunite for the first time since they last met 12 years ago in Foosha Village.
