Homegrown film fare big in Japan

Box office rose 2.2% year on year

By MARK SCHILLING

TOKYO -- Japanese pics grabbed a majority share of the 2006 box office -- the first time that's happened in 21 years -- according to figures released Tuesday by the Motion Picture Producers Assn. of Japan (Eiren).

B.O. rose 2.2% year on year to ¥202,554 million ($1.7 billion), while admissions grew 2.4% to 164.27 million. Japanese pics accounted for $890.5 million, or 53.2% of the total. Foreign pics scored $783.6 million, a drop of 18.5%.

There were 821 releases, 417 of them Japanese. It's the first time in 33 years that more than 400 Japanese films bowed in a year.

The highest-grossing pic, at $91 million, was "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," released in Japan in November 2005. The highest-earning pic released in 2006 -- and the only one to pass the significant ¥10 billion ($82 million) mark -- was "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which finished with $82.8 million.

Rounding out the foreign top five were "The Da Vinci Code" ($74.7 million), "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" ($56.7 million) and "Mission: Impossible III" ($42.6 million).

Top domestic grosser was Studio Ghibli toon "Tales From Earthsea," with $63.2 million, followed by "Umizaru 2: Test of Trust" ($56.7 million), "Suite Dreams" ($50.2 million), "The Sinking of Japan" ($44.1 million) and "Death Note: The Last Name" ($43 million). All of the top 10 Japanese pics were produced by TV networks, and many of their helmers were TV drama vets.

Six Japanese pics, including WWII pic "Yamato" ($42 million), passed the ¥5 billion ($41.3) threshold, while 28 finished with ¥1 billion ($8.3 million) or more.

Of the resurgence of the Japanese biz, Eiren chairman Isao Matsuoka said Tuesday, "Movies used to be a byword for a sunset industry and no one would put money into them. Now they are Japan's more important content."

Only 22 foreign films took more than $8.3 million vs. 36 in 2005.

Among pics that did not live up to pre-release hype were "King Kong" ($19.4 million) and "Memoirs of a Geisha" ($12.8 million). Overachievers included "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," which finished sixth among foreign pics with $38.4 million in a market not often friendly to Hollywood comedies, and "Flight Plan," which took seventh with $25.7 million, or nearly one-third its U.S. B.O.

The number of screens grew from 2,926 to 3,062 in 2006 -- the first time since 1971 that number passed 3,000. Videostore sales declined 7.7% to $3.6 billion, while the number of rentals edged up 0.7% to 798 million. Sales shrunk 8.6% to $2.2 billion.