'Frozen' Heading Toward $100 Million at Japan Box Office

Marvel (Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World), Pixar (Monsters University) and a resurgence at Disney Animation (Frozen) had the studio roaring back from a 2012 marred by John Carter . While July's The Lone Ranger will lead to a huge write-down, Disney CEO Robert Iger pledges allegiance to big films with franchise potential, "particularly those with action or family appeal."

Japan overtakes South Korea as the Oscar-winning animation's second biggest market behind the U.S.

TOKYO -- Frozen stayed on top of the Japanese box office for the fifth consecutive weekend, pushing its total to $91.2 million (?9.28 billion), as the country overtook Korea as the biggest overseas territory for Disney's Oscar winner.

The end of spring break last week had little effect on Frozen's stellar performance in Japan, with takings falling only 1.2 percent on the previous weekend to $8.26 million (?840 million) on Saturday and Sunday.

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A Japanese dubbed 3D version will be released on April 26, in time for the national Golden Week holidays, which should help it maintain momentum at the box office. Audiences in Japan currently have to choose between a 2D dubbed or 3D subtitled version.

Frozen has been a huge hit across Asia. It previously took a record $77 million in Korea, helping to push its global total to $1.113 billion and overtake Skyfall to become the eighth-highest grossing movie of all time. It has also become the number one animated film ever.

While its Japan total looks certain to finish well north of $100 million, its performance in Korea was more remarkable given that its population is around a third of Japan's.

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Crows Explode, directed by Toshiaki Toyoda, opened in a distant second place on 307 screens over the weekend, taking $2.89 million (?294 million). The sequel to Crows (2007) and Crows Zero (2009), both directed by Takashi Miike, is the latest installment about the adventures of high school delinquents based on the best-selling manga Crows by Hiroshi Takahashi.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, meanwhile, fell one place to eighth after a month on the charts and has now passed $8 million in Japan.

Twitter: @GavinJBlair