Although the pandemic is not yet over in Japan, this year the local film market returned to a semblance of pre-pandemic normality. Hollywood films, which had mostly disappeared from the box-office top 10 rankings in 2020 and 2021, came roaring back in 2022, led by the Tom Cruise-starring hit “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Opening May 27, the film earned ¥13.5 billion, the second-highest total for the year according to figures compiled by the film site Pick Scene. Four other Hollywood films made it onto the site’s top 10 for 2022; last year, there was only one: “Fast & Furious 9.”
The year’s box-office champion, however, was once again an anime film: “One Piece Film Red.” It made ¥18.7 billion following its Aug. 6 release, the highest-ever gross in the venerable “One Piece” franchise, and the sixth highest of all time in Japan for an anime feature. (The all-time box-office leader, in any category, is 2020’s “Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train” with ¥40.4 billion.)