“Death Note: The Last Name” Highest Opening For A Japanese Film In 2006

(November 9, 2006 - Burbank, CA) — Warner Bros. Pictures Japan set an opening weekend record for a domestic title with the release of “Death Note: The Last Name,” passing the previous 2006 highest opening weekends for “Umizaru: Limit of Love” and Ghibli Animation’s “Tales From Earthsea.” Including foreign films, “Death Note: The Last Name” now ranks number four among all film openings in 2006. “Death Note: The Last Name” opened on 351 screens nationwide on Friday, November 3. The record-breaking, three-day opening weekend brought in more than 1.2 billion yen ($US 10.3 million) at the box office and 976,476 in admissions. This marks the highest opening weekend among Japanese films in 2006, topping the previous results for “Umizaru: Limit of Love,” Ghibli Animation’s “Tales From Earthsea,” and “Sinking of Japan.” The second film in a two-part series, “Death Note: The Last Name” follows “Death Note,” which opened earlier in 2006 and has grossed 2.85 billion yen ($US 24.6 million) at the box office to date for Warner Bros. “Death Note” launched on June 17 on 342 screens nationwide, grossing 400 million yen ($US 3.48 million) at the box office with more than 300,000 admissions in its two-day opening. It was the first Japanese film to open at number one for a foreign distributor. “Death Note: The Last Name” is the second film in this category for Warner Bros. in 2006. Commencing production in January this year, the feature films are an adaptation of a super hit comic book of the same title. “Death Note” was launched as an unconventional movie project in that the theatrical openings of the first film and its sequel were planned within the short interval of just half a year. This is similar to the release strategy implemented by Warner Bros. for the two “Matrix” sequels, “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix: Revolutions.” The project has triggered a cultural phenomenon now known in Japan as “Death Note Syndrome.” The total cumulative number of comic books sold, which was 12 million with nine existing volumes at the time of the production announcement, has now broken through 23 million with 12 volumes. Additionally, the first “Death Note” film was aired on network television just prior to the release of the sequel, garnering a 24% ratings share nationwide. Warner Bros. Japan is aggressively tapping into the popularity of local content, which now makes up more than 50% of the theatrical market. DEATH NOTE: THE LAST NAME Toyoharu Fukuda and Seiji Okuda, executive producers, and Takahiro Sato, producer; directed by Shusuke Kaneko; Death Note Film Partners - Nippon Television Network Corporation, Shueisha Inc., HoriPro, Inc., Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Vap, Inc., Konami Corporation, Shochiku Co., Ltd., and Nikkatsu Corporation; released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Japan. WITH: Tatsuya Fujiwara (Light); Ken'ichi Matsuyama (L); Erika Toda (Misa); Nana Katase (Near); the voice of Shido Nakamura (Ryuuk) # # #