2025 - The Year of the Japanese Box Office

The Japanese film market has seen a significant boom, signaling a successful year for box office revenue as early as the first half of 2025. This excitement has set a historic high expectation, perhaps this year's total box office revenue is strong enough to surpass the all-time record set in 2019.

According to the Japan Times, 2025 has shown a promising start as this year's growth momentum continues to come from familiar brands that have proven their lasting appeal to audiences. The most prominent of these is the blockbuster Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle . According to the announcement on November 18 by Japanese distributors, the total global revenue of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle has surpassed the 100 billion yen mark (644 million USD). The film not only solidified the position of the "Demon Slayer brand" on the world cinema map but also contributed significantly to the overall growth of the Japanese box office.

A scene from the movie Kokuho. Photo: YOSHIDA SHUICHI / ASAHI SHIMBUN

Similar to previous years, manga and anime still play a key role, accounting for 3/4 of the highest-grossing films in 2025. The most popular are Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback and Chainsaw Man . Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback , the 28th film in the Detective Conan series, continues to affirm its position as a stable pillar when it reaches the 14.4 billion yen revenue mark for the third consecutive time. Both Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback and Chainsaw Man are released by Sony Pictures in the US market.

However, this year's anime dominance was challenged by the live-action drama Kokuho (tentatively translated as National Treasure ) directed by Lee Sang-il. Despite being a drama and running for up to 3 hours, the film still created a strong ripple effect among the public. With a revenue of 17.37 billion yen, the film is currently ranked as the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film of all time, breaking the record that had stood for more than 20 years by Bayside Shakedown 2 (2003). The film was selected as Japan's representative for the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Academy Awards (98th Oscars), and will be released in North America next year.

The film challenged conventional wisdom in the industry on two counts: its three-hour runtime (too long for contemporary audiences) and its Kabuki theme (one of Japan’s three major theatrical art forms, along with noh and bunraku puppetry, which were deemed too niche to be considered mass entertainment). Mentioning these points in an article for the business news site President Online, veteran producer Minami Ichikawa admitted that Kokuho was initially considered a “high business risk” by everyone, but Toho ultimately decided to distribute it.

In 2019, the Japanese box office peaked with a record total revenue of 261.1 billion yen. This is considered the gold standard for the Japanese film industry to evaluate its recovery after a period of decline due to the pandemic and economic fluctuations. The resonance of high-quality anime and live-action blockbusters has helped bring a rare "big boom" atmosphere to the Japanese box office in 2025. The whole industry is looking forward to whether the breakthrough of key works is enough to bring the annual revenue to surpass the record of 2019 - a milestone that is considered a symbol of the prosperous period of Japanese cinema.

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Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/2025-nam-cua-phong-ve-nhat-ban-post827314.html