‘My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising’ Delivers Powerful 4th Place Launch

Limited releases and tiny marketing budgets aren’t stopping the passionate fanbases of anime franchises, who continue to turn out in droves for theatrical releases in the United States. Last weekend’s release of My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising continued the trend, launching in fourth place with $5.7 million from 1,172 locations. The film’s per-theater average of $4,946 was the second-highest in the top ten, behind only #1 film The Invisible Man.

In its first five days of release, the Kenji Nagasaki-directed film has grossed a powerful $9.1 million. Released by Sony Pictures Television’s Funimation unit, the film is the distributor’s second-biggest all-time release, behind last year’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which pulled in a remarkable $30.7 million. The latest My Hero Academia has already outgrossed the entire domestic run of the first film in the franchise, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, which ended its run with $5.7m in 2018.

It’s the second anime success story of 2020, following Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering with You, which has now picked up $7.7m after seven weekends. Shinkai’s film stands as the most successful GKIDS release of all time. The distributor’s previous best was Studio Ponoc’s Mary and the Witch’s Flower ($2.4m).

The #2 and 3 spots at the U.S. box office last weekend were held by a pair of hybrid films with cg-animated stars. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog earned $16.2m in its third weekend, boosting its domestic total to $128.5m, while Disney’s Call of the Wild picked up
$13.3m for a $46m total after two weekends. The latter film, which has also underperformed internationally, is now looking at a $50 million loss. It’s Disney’s second animation-heavy film inherited from 20th Century Studios that has underdelivered at the box office, following Blue Sky Studios’ fully-animated Spies in Disguise, which has grossed just $66.4m to date and currently stands as the studio’s lowest-grossing production.