The Samurai and the Prisoner, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's live-action adaptation of Honobu Yonezawa's historical mystery novel, has fallen to fourth place at the Japanese box office in its third weekend. The film earned over 94 million yen (approximately $585,000 USD) from Friday to Sunday, bringing its cumulative total to over 824 million yen (approximately $5.08 million USD) from 600,000 tickets sold since its June 19 opening.
Meanwhile, Shin Gekijōban ☆ Keroro Gunsō Fukkatsu Shite Sokkō Chikyū Metsubō no Kiki de Arimasu!, the new film celebrating Sgt. Frog's 20th anniversary, dropped from fourth to tenth place in its second weekend. The film opened on June 26, earning over 150 million yen (approximately $927,900 USD) in its initial three days.
Other films charting include Soreike! Anpanman: Pantan to Yakusoku no Hoshi, the 37th film in the Anpanman series, which stayed at fifth place in its second weekend, earning over 72 million yen (approximately $444,500 USD) and a cumulative total of over 218 million yen (approximately $1.34 million USD). The 4K restoration of Studio Ghibli's classic Kiki's Delivery Service returned to the top 10 at eighth place in its third weekend, earning over 73 million yen (approximately $451,500 USD) and a cumulative total of over 467 million yen (approximately $2.87 million USD).
It was also announced that a new Sgt. Frog television anime series, titled Keroro Gunsō ☆, is scheduled to premiere in Fall 2026. This upcoming series will feature an entirely new cast, distinct from the current film project. Yūichi Fukuda is supervising and writing the script for the film, with Fumitoshi Oizaki directing.
Source: Kōgyō Tsūshin
