The Hollywood Reporter – August 14, 2019

Behind the Headlines

The Report

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16

Moviegoing has soared 16 percent in the country this year

amid government reforms to give more leisure time to workers

BY GAVIN J. BLAIR

Japan Box Office Boom

Fueled by Free Time

D

efying a slowly shrinking

population and the rise

of streaming platforms,

Japan’s box office is spiking in

2019 thanks to rising wages, a

shift in corporate culture and

a strong lineup of local and

Hollywood films. Box office

revenue was up 16 percent in the

first half of the year, with July

alone surging 30 percent from

the same corridor in 2018, per

local entertainment news service

Bunkatsushin.

It’s shaping up to be a banner

year for Hollywood, which hasn’t

claimed more than 50 percent

of the Japan box office since

2007, when the country was the

No. 2 moviegoing market in the

world behind North America and

China. This year was sparked

by Bohemian Rhapsody, which

topped the charts for two weeks

in January despite having debuted

Nov. 9. By mid-May, it had pulled

in $115.7 million. The country also

has helped fuel Aladdin’s $1 bil-

lion-plus global run, ponying up

$107.2 million to date.

Underlying the moviegoing

boom is demand for recreation

amid government reform, says

Tokyo-based Jefferies analyst

Shinnosuke Takeuchi. “Leisure

time is also increasing as the

Work Style Reforms being

promoted by the government

have led to a decrease in working

times,” says Takeuchi, referring

to measures designed to change

Japan’s notoriously harsh cor-

porate culture. A labor shortage

has pushed unemployment down

to 2.3 percent and wages up

after decades of stagflation. The

reforms came into effect in April

and include forcing employees

to take paid vacation days (the

average worker uses half of his

or her annual leave). “People

are looking for ways to spend

time with friends and family,”

says Takeuchi, “and going to the

movies is still a preferred leisure

choice for Japanese people.”

From left: 2019’s top-grossing movies

in Japan include Toho’s Weathering With

You ($55.4 million), Toy S to r y 4 ($71.1 million)

and Disney’s Aladdin ($107.2 million).

Who Should Get a

Music Biopic Next?

The Beatles 66%

The Rolling Stones 60%

Elvis Presley 60%

John Lennon 59%

Aretha Franklin 57%

Michael Jackson 57%

Aerosmith 57%

Eagles 57%

Billy Joel 55%

Whitney Houston 55%

Bob Marley 53%

Frank Sinatra 53%

Led Zeppelin 51%

Bruce Springsteen 50%

Pink Floyd 49%

Phil Collins 49%

AC/DC 46%

Eminem 45%

Garth Brooks 45%

Madonna 44%

Lynyrd Skynyrd 44%

Celine Dion 43%

Rihanna 42%

Mariah Carey 42%

Taylor Swift 39%

ABBA 39%

U2 38%

Ed Sheeran 38%

Amy Winehouse 36%

Carole King 35%

Drake 31%

Boy George 29%

Gucci Mane 21%

Yoko O no 20%

Source: conducted Aug. 1-3 among a THR/Morning Consult poll

nationally representative sample of 2,200 adults. % is calculated from

interested” or “somewhat interested” respondents who replied “very

would you be in a biopic movie about to the question, “How interested

the following artists?”

After Queen and Elton John, Americans want more

classic rock icons on the big screen, a survey finds

THR/

Morning

Consult

Poll

Top 5 Foreign Markets

Gross in millions

Source: Comscore

Bohemian Rhapsody

(Fall 2018)

Japan

$115.

South Korea

$74.

U.K.

$

Australia

$

Germany

$36.

Aladdin

(Still in theaters)

Japan

$107.

South Korea

$

China

$53.

U.K.

$46.

Mexico

$35.