Interest
Manga Creator Reveals His Recommendation List for Live-Action Gintama Film
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
Shueisha released the Eiga Gintama Silver Memories Visual Book for the live-action Gintama film on July 14, the same day as the film opened in Japan. The book includes a message to fans with the original manga creator Hideaki Sorachi's "recommended points" for the film that he thinks people who see the film might like. The tongue-in-cheek list includes aspects of the film such as Shun Oguri's (who plays Gintoki Sakata) jaw technique, Masaki Suda's (Shinpachi Shimura) buttons, Kanna Hashimoto's (Kagura) snot, Matako Kijima's (Nanao) crotch (The word for crotch, "mata," is a reference to the actress' name.), Jirō Satō (Henpeita Takechi), a sniper aiming at Kotarō Katsura's (played by Masaki Okada) back, and disappearing Elizabeth.
Soraichi also said in the message, "Everyone, please make [the film] win against Pirates of the Caribbean somehow." He asked fans to see the film so that at least it can win against pirates once. The Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales film opened in Japan on July 1.
As it turns out, Soraichi got his wish. The live-action Gintama film opened at #2 at the Japanese box office and pushed the newest Pirates of the Caribbean into the #3 spot. Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (Gekijōban Pocket Monster: Kimi ni Kimeta!), this year's Pokémon film, topped the list.
The live-action Gintama film sold 742,254 tickets to earn 982,291,500 yen (US$8.78 million) in its first four days and rank at #2. The film opened on Friday and earned 176,025,800 yen (US$1.57 million) on 335 screens on its opening day. The film then sold 392,789 tickets on Saturday and Sunday to earn 541,032,900 yen (US$4.83 million). The film had the highest opening two days of any Japanese live-action film in 2017 so far. The film's total box-office earnings are expected to surpass 5 billion yen (US$44.7 million).
Sources: Animate Times, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
