Japan Box Office: 'Your Name' Helps 2016 Revenue Hit Record $2.1B

The smash hit anime helped pick up the slack of Hollywood's share, which dropped after recent years of gains.

The Japanese box office grew 8.5 percent to a record $2.09 billion (?235.5 billion) in 2016, lifted by the stellar performance of anime smash Your Name. After successive years of gains, Hollywood's share fell to 36.9 percent from 44.6 percent in 2015, according to figures released Tuesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ).

Your Name, directed by Makoto Shinkai, was the biggest film in Japan last year with $233 million (?23.6 billion) and just returned to the top of the box office charts last weekend, its 22nd week of release. The next-biggest local production was Shin Godzilla, helping to drive the studio and distributor to record revenue for the year.

Box office for Hollywood films fell by just over 10 percent to $770 million, while box office for local productions grew 23.5 percent to a record $1.32 billion (¥149 billion). Only Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Zootopia and Finding Dory took in more than $50 million.

Admissions were up 8 percent to just over 180 million, while average ticket prices were almost flat. The number of screens grew slightly, to 3,472.

Big growth was also seen in revenue from exports, which grew 40 percent to $144 million, with much of that accounted for by Your Name's performance in Asia.

Another bright spot was the sector referred to as ODS (Other Digital Stuff) -- covering screenings of concerts, plays and other performances, both live and recorded -- which grew 7 percent to $145 million (?16.4 billion) last year.