The results are in: A:C Box Office Gross - Japan

G. H. (Gman)

I would be rather curious how do you think Blade Runner 2049 will fare judging by the fact that the first one inspired so many mangas and animes.

red0guy@gmail.com,
Nostalgia doesn't seem to play too big of a part in Japan's audience. Everyone assumed Pacific Rim would do well in Japan merely because it's a giant monster movie, but it tanked with 1.03 million in attendance--Admittedly due to lack of advertising. Everyone also thought Power Rangers would fare well since it's based on Zyuranger, but it flopped really hard as well with an estimated 230,000 in attendance. Ghost in a Shell also did badly with only 720,000, even though the Japanese apparently didn't mind it was heavily whitewashed. And even the 2014 Godzilla only did moderate business. It had an attendance of around 2.23 million--Similar to movies from the prior Toho era, often considered a weaker box office decade for the Godzilla series. Their own Shin Godzilla, on the other hand, knocked it out with 5.7 million. Generally, they just prefer domestic films.

I wouldn't bet on Blade Runner making any big waves in Japan, but the fun thing about the Japanese box office is that it's one of the more unpredictable territories. There's always a chance, as they say. But if it's a live action Hollywood film, the odds aren't very good. Animated movies usually do better.

red0guy@gmail.com I believe the ones buying the hard / digital copy before the movie official release would go to see the movie in theaters as well. It's a fan thing. 

Looking at the figures posted by G. H. (Gman) Alien Covenant is much less than a flop in Japan but strangely this makes me love this film even more.

daliens

But there is a possibility that they buy a copy and don't like it and stay away from the cinema. I know it is unlikely, but still it is a possibility.

red0guy yes, however these possibilities cannot have a big influence on the box office. I have to accept it that Japanese are not so much into the Alien universe. Perhaps a Japanese made version would sell better, all the more an animated one.

Even Japan is not bad compared to other countries. Look at Germany.

View: BY COUNTRY | BY WEEKEND

daliens

Well, on the amazon.de it has 2.9 (with over 600 votes) and according to them it stars Foxbender and Rapace (wtf? she is not even in the movie). On the amazon.co.uk it has 3.2 (with over 1000 votes more than the us site) and also stars Rapace. I guess the US and China loved the movie the most... 

daliens,
Comparing other countries' straight numbers with each other is a bit erroneous since every country has different numbers, a different size film industry, different ticket prices, different populations, etc. For example, making $80 million in Japan would be like making $300 million in the U.S. Both are incredible.

To say Germany is worse than Japan is to discount what that number actually means for Germany. For all we know $6M could be pretty good for that country. I don't follow European box office numbers very closely so I really couldn't say either way. The point is making straight up comparisons between countries' numbers doesn't work. One country's $2M could potentially be a great deal better than another country's $10M.

For example, it did a lot better in Thailand than it did in Japan. Thailand loved the movie. It was number 1 at the box office for two weeks in a row. Just because Thailand is a smaller market than Japan, and didn't accrue as much money, does not mean it flopped there.

“. . . it has outright flopped in Japan with a current, estimated audience attendance of 570,000.” (G.H. (Gman) )

If you make a movie that has the word alien in it you expect a certain format. It has usually been about the humans but now it became a AI show. This is disappointing and I think that Scott somehow deserves it. Hopefully Scott and those at Fox learn a lesson from this. Less artificial intelligence and more about well written and interesting human characters, thank you very much.

As far as how many that have watched it yes it is a disappointment. I looked up some statistics about Japan and there seems to be about 125 millions that live there so an attendance of 570 000 isn't that great.

Thoughts_Dreams,

No it's not a good number at all. But even out of the 120+ million that live in Japan an attendance of only 3 million is needed to be considered a sure success. So just to clarify--While 570,000 tickets sold is not good for the country's box office, the margin of failure isn't that wide.