'Aibo' leads Japan Golden Week BO

Cop thriller earns 1.2 bil yen

By MARK SCHILLING

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TOKYO -- "Aibo -- gekijoban" (Partners -- Theatrical Version) topped the weekend Japanese box office, according to figures from B.O. tracker Kogyo Tsushinsha.  

Toei bowed helmer Seiji Izumi's cop thriller, based on his TV Asashi skein, on 300 screens on May 1. Crowds attracted by first-day-of-the-month Movie Day discounts helped pic make $2.36 million on 202,500 admissions its first day and $11.4 million in five days.

The pic also got a boost from the string of public holidays from May 3 to 6, the beginning of what is called Golden Week here.

"Aibo's" opening B.O. numbers are the highest of any Toei pic in the current decade.    

Yasufumi Terawaki and Yutaka Mizutani reprise their TV roles as cops famous in the department for solving tough crimes. "Aibo" has racked up more than 100 episodes in six seasons.