Jujutsu Kaisen 0has become Japan’s #1 film of 2021 after selling 7,603,732 tickets for ¥10,456,322,400 (roughly US$90.6 million) in the45 days since it first premiered. This now puts it ahead ofEvangelion: 3.0+1.0as the highest-earning film at the Japanese box office for the 2021 calendar year.
The film currently stands as the 34th highest-earning film in Japanese box office history and has surpassed blockbuster films likeThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,Toy Story 4, andPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chestin less than two months.
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The highly popular prequel film has now become the 10th anime film to make more than ¥10 billion, as well as the 9th highest-grossing anime film in Japan of all time. It’s worth noting thatJujutsu Kaisen 0was technically released after the cutoff for the 2021 box office year according to box office reporter Kogyo Tsushinsha, but the film still stands as the highest-grossing Japanese film released that year.
Gege Akutami’sJujutsu Kaisen 0(renamed from Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical School) manga ran in Shueisha’s Jump GIGA magazine from April-July 2017. The series serves as a prequel to Akutami’s popularJujutsu Kaisenseries, which began serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine in 2018. The series has amassed 18 collected volumes throughout its run so far. A free-to-play RPG developed by Sumzap was announced in June 2021, though nothing new regarding the project has been disclosed since.
MAPPA animated a 24-episode anime adaptationof the manga from October 2020-March 2021, with Sunghoo Park (Banana Fish,The God of High School) directing and Hiroshi Seko (Attack on Titan,Dorohedoro) serving as screenwriter.
MAPPA returned to animateJujutsu Kaisen 0, alongside Park and Seko. The film stars Megumi Ogata (Evangelion’sShinji Ikari,YuYu Hakusho’sKurama) as Yuta Okkotsu, with Kana Hanazawa (Steins;Gate’sMayuri Shiina,Psycho-Pass’Akane Tsunemori) voicing Rika Orimoto.
VIZ Media licenses the manga in English alongsideJujutsu Kaisen 0. Crunchyrollstreamed the animeas it aired in Japan, and VIZ Media owns the home video rights. Crunchyroll recently announced that they would bedistributingJujutsu Kaisen 0in U.S. and Canadian theaters starting March 18. Tickets will go on sale starting February 25.
