Japan Box Office: 'Zootopia' Opens Strong but Topped by Local Anime Film

Disney's animated animal-menagerie brought in $4M, while 'The Revenant' bowed at No. 5 during a busy weekend before the country's Golden Week holidays.

Zootopia opened in the second spot at the Japanese box office this weekend with a strong ?446 million ($4 million) from 329,500 admissions on 471 screens, behind local manga release Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare.

Still, Zootopia marks the third-biggest debut for a Disney Animation Studios title in the country behind Frozen and Big Hero 6. And the Byron Howard- and Rich Moore-directed movie's opening was 10 percent higher than the Japan start for Pixar's Inside Out, which finished around $36.5 million last year.

The Saturday and Sunday performance of Detective Conan brought the anime film's cume to $22.5 million with another $6.21 million.

Another local anime film, Crayon Shin-chan Fast Asleep! Dreaming World Big Assault!, dropped one spot to No. 3 after its second weekend. I Am a Hero, the first major Japanese live-action zombie pic, opened at No. 4 with $2 million from 160,000 admissions on a busy box-office weekend before the Golden Week holidays in the country.

The Revenant took in a solid $2.2 million from 366 screens in its bow, putting it at No. 5 and giving it a 7 percent bigger opening than Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer The Wolf of Wall Street.

At No. 6 was Yu-Gi-oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions, another anime franchise, with $1.2 million despite a relatively limited 137-screen release.

Captain America: Civil War will be released on Friday, the first day of the Golden Week holidays, which will run until May 5 and are traditionally a bumper box-office period.

