One Piece Film: Red's Strong U.S. Debut Could Change The Box Office Hierarchy For Black Adam
The 2022 box office data for theatrical showings of movies has been sporadic and divergent based on a wide range of factors. But one inescapable detail for this is the magnitude of only certain films that have yielded strong returns of revenue in the early and middle portions of the year. The autumn season also seems to be improving a bit, thanks in part to the strong showing of "Black Adam," which gained its star, The Rock, his strongest opening weekend at the box office. The movie opened higher than any of Dwayne Johnson's films where the actor headlined the production, with only ensemble acting examples such as the "Fast and Furious" franchise offerings and "The Mummy Returns" debuting to higher grosses.
The fall of 2022 has been a good season so far for series anime, with the return of popular series in addition to new launches such as "Chainsaw Man" and "Raven of the Inner Palace." But this is also being seen in theaters as well with "One Piece Film: Red" already becoming the highest-grossing film of the year in Japan (per Box Office Mojo). In the United States, the animated movie has also shown a strong opening at the domestic box office, and this could potentially change the ticket sales domination of "Black Adam."
Industry projections suggest One Piece Film Red has potential to overtake Black Adam at box office
According to Deadline, "One Piece Film: Red" collected an estimated box office gross of between $1.6 million and $1.8 million based on Thursday's showings alone. As the weekend unfolds, industry estimates see the anime possibly unseating "Black Adam" from the top of the domestic box office with a $14 million to $16 million total gross by Monday, November 7, 2022. This will deny the DC superhero film a third successive week in the number one position if these estimates come to pass. The Goro Taniguchi-directed fantasy adventure has also been booked at both IMAX and PLF screens in addition to 2,415 other screens across the nation.
This continues a powerful year for anime both in terms of worldwide and American ticket sales. In August 2022, "Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero" collected an impressive $38.1 million in North America alone after opening to over 3,000 theater screens in August 2022 (via Gold Derby). "One Piece Film: Red" seems destined to become a historic movie across the board. The film has already become one of the highest-grossing anime in Japanese history in its home nation, and it continues to set trends and break records everywhere it lands.