The live-action adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's novel The Samurai and the Prisoner is in its fourth weekend of theatrical release in Japan, having dropped from #4 to #5 at the box office.
The live-action adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's novel The Samurai and the Prisoner opened in Japanese theaters in late June or early July 2026. In its opening weekend, the film did not crack the top three, as the Sgt. Frog 20th anniversary film and the 37th Anpanman film debuted at #4 and #5 respectively. By its third weekend, The Samurai and the Prisoner had climbed to #4, earning enough to hold that position as Sgt. Frog opened at #10 and Anpanman held at #5.
In its fourth weekend, the film fell to #5, earning 56,289,900 yen. The 4K restoration of Kiki's Delivery Service rose to #7, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie re-entered the top 10 at #9. A new entry, SHIBOYUGI: Cloudy Beach, debuted at #11. The film's festival run extends beyond Japan: it will screen at the Ottawa International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and New Zealand International Film Festival in 2026, alongside Mononoke the Movie: Chapter 3 and the We Are Aliens anime film.
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Jul 20
The live-action adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's novel The Samurai and the Prisoner fell from #4 to #5 in its fourth weekend, earning 56,289,900 yen. The 37th Anpanman film dropped to #6, while the 4K restoration of Kiki's Delivery Service rose to #7. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie re-entered the top 10 at #9. SHIBOYUGI: Cloudy Beach debuted at #11.
Jul 20
The We Are Aliens anime film will screen at the Ottawa International Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and New Zealand International Film Festival in 2026. The festivals also announced screenings for Mononoke the Movie: Chapter 3 and the live-action film The Samurai and the Prisoner.
Jul 11
The live-action adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's The Samurai and the Prisoner dropped to #4 in its third weekend at the Japanese box office. The 37th Anpanman film held at #5 in its second weekend. The 4K restoration of Kiki's Delivery Service ranked #8 in its third weekend. The new Sgt. Frog film opened at #10.
Jul 2
The new Sgt. Frog 20th anniversary film ranked #4 in its opening weekend with 150.8 million yen, while the 37th Anpanman film opened at #5 with 123.4 million yen. A new Sgt. Frog TV series with a fresh cast is set for fall 2026.