TOKYO – “Galaxy Turnpike,” the first venture into sci-fi by comedy director Koki Mitani, topped the Japanese box office in its first weekend on release.
Opening on 433 screens in the Oct. 24-25 frame, with Toho distributing, the film earned $2.24 million on 199,000 admissions.
These are only about half the numbers for the “The Kiyosu Conference,” a Mitani period comedy that finished with $24.5 million in 2013.
The highest ranking film among other newcomers, at number five, was “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials,” which opened on 511 screens, with Fox distributing. The second entry in the worldwide hit sci-fi adventure trilogy took $900,000 on 74,300 admissions. This was about 70% of the take of the previous film, “Maze Runner,” which opened in Japan in May and ended its run with $5 million.
Opening at number six was “The Transporter Refueled,” the fourth installment in the French English-language thriller series, with Asmik Ace distributing. In its first two days the film scored $794,000 on 71,800 admissions from 222 screens. This is about 85% of the previous series installment, the 2008 “Transporter 3,” starring Jason Statham.
