Dragon Ball Super: Broly box office – Anime is here to stay

Glass may have been the newest major motion picture to hit theaters this weekend, but the Funimation release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly is proving that American audiences want a little international flavor to their film tastes with a  projected five-day gross of over $20 million.

The Oscar for Best Animated Feature has not had a particularly long life past its inception. Quite literally a 21st century creation, the Oscar category came to life at the 2002 Oscar ceremony, where legendary animated meme, Shrek, became the inaugural winner of the prestigious award. The Oscar is awarded to not just the most creative piece of animated art of the year (at least according to Oscar voters), but one that represents a change in both creativity and the perspectives of general audiences.

This is largely why Disney and Pixar have been the dominant forces in the Oscar category after 18 years. Popular movies like Coco, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Zootopia, Frozen, among others have been recipients for the Oscar all these years. These films proved to be a success with both critics and audiences, with their influence still being felt to this day. In all of these past 18 years, only one anime film has won the Oscar and no, it wasn’t anything Dragon Ball-related.

Anime maestro, Hayao Miyazaki, won the Oscar back in 2003 for his animated fantasy adventure film, Spirited Away, which is now considered one of the greatest animated films ever made. It’s also a rarity in terms of Western popularity.

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On the film side of things, anime still holds a rocky reputation with the West. Anime films are rarely ever afforded the same kind of treatment that mainstream American movies receive, with some of the most popular anime films ever, like Pokemon: The First Movie and Spirited Away, finding little-to-moderate success in the U.S, not even breaking $100 million.

Some might say that anime is a property that should be exclusive to Japan, seeing as how its popularity is more mainstream over there and that is a fair point. The animation style and quirks of anime may be a little too strange and out-of-the-ordinary for English-speaking audiences.

A success in one area doesn’t always translate to accessibility for another area and that’s simply culture dynamics playing their parts. However, MLK weekend of 2019 was a stark reminder that Dragon Ball, and possibly anime in general, may be an exception to that rule.

Box office surprise?

Dragon Ball, the legendary Japanese animated action-adventure show and manga, has acted as the gateway for anime to enter the American mainstream market ever since its transfer onto the Toonami section of Cartoon Network in the 1990s.

The show, which follows quirky alien warrior, Goku, on countless adventures with his friends involving seven wish-granting orbs called Dragon Balls, was a massive success for American television and helped propel anime into the mainstream with its inclusion in television, video games, commercials, music, and eventually films.

Movies such as Battle of Gods and Resurrection “F” have received theatrical releases in the States over the past 6 years and despite massive success in other countries, the States could barely afford anything close to even $20 million. This is partly due to the limited release strategy of Dragon Ball, and most other anime films.

The films will open in only select theaters nationwide for a total of 1-2 weeks, focusing on the big cities and theater chains to make a profit. So far, this has been met with mixed results in the States, but the newest film in the series, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, told a different story.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly opted for a similar strategy for its release this past week, albeit in a slightly expanded nature of just over 1,000 theaters. Again, the promise of profit was a bit shaky, especially considering that the highly anticipated superhero thriller, Glass, was making its worldwide debut at the same time. Obviously, Glass was going to gross more than Broly over the weekend, but the anime film made sure that no film would go untouched by its impact at the American box office.

This impact became borderline astronomical this past Wednesday when Deadline Hollywood reported that Dragon Ball Super: Broly earned a massive $7 million on its opening day on Wednesday, overtaking every movie currently playing in theaters for that day. For Thursday, things continued to look up as it grossed just over $3 million, barely letting Glass take the top spot for an estimated $3.7 million in previews. By today, Broly has grossed about $17 million and is projected to add an extra $3 million to top off the weekend, with Martin Luther King day still set to bring in even bigger numbers.

With this, Broly not only overtook the previous two Dragon Ball films at the domestic box office, but it is currently set to enter the Top 5 domestic earners of the weekend. Some are even speculating that it could enter the Top 3, further showing its strength at the box office. Though Dragon Ball continues to show strong popularity, its impact on the world of film this week is something that cannot go unnoticed.

The strength of anime

With this accomplishment, Dragon Ball Super: Broly not only has the highest American opening for any Dragon Ball film ever, but it currently boasts the third highest American opening for any anime film in general, only behind Pokemon: The First Movie and Pokemon: The Movie 2000. Still, this is a massive accomplishment for the film and further proof that not only is the Dragon Ball name still strong, but that even inaccessible anime films can find success in the U.S.

I say this because Broly is a film that is made purely for the Dragon Ball community. It doesn’t welcome newcomers with a refresher to get things caught up for them. The film unravels its narrative in a manner in which only serious fans of the franchise can understand. To a newcomer, the film can appear incoherent and cheesy, which could do real damage to its outside appeal. Yet, Broly showed itself to a major addition to the box office regardless, which gets the question of the film’s outside appeal rolling.

It’s clear that people who aren’t fans of the series or even fans of anime must’ve let their curiosity guide them towards buying a ticket. One of my cousins who isn’t even interested in Dragon Ball saw it with her boyfriend on Thursday, providing a small portion of what I’m sure is a decent amount of outsiders that were dragged to the film by their significant others.

Not only that, but the mile-a-minute culture of 21st century technology has allowed for international films and shows to cross over to the American mainstream, with streaming services playing a big part in helping anime in particular receive mainstream exposure. Every time I visit a Wal-Mart or a Best Buy, there’s a large section that’s dedicated towards specifically anime-related products. Many Studio Ghibli films and TV show box sets flood the section with a variety of anime media to consume.

Yet, anime still seems to be treated with a level of disrespect and ignorance from Western audiences. Arguments against the medium have pointed to viewers being a little too weirded out by its style and quirks, with some even calling anime gross and “for nerds only.” Yet as I came out of my screening, the variety of different people walking out of the film was staggering. You had regular fans of the series, alongside sports jocks, people of color (important to note that Mexico is one of the most profitable countries for the film), and even whole families. All for an admittedly inaccessible Dragon Ball film that caters solely to its core demographic.

Anime, whether people like to admit or not, has had a large presence in the West for many years at this point and it’s clear that it has not hit its peak in popularity by a long shot. People are coming to see these movies in theaters, which is astounding given its limited release format, and enjoying what they are seeing. People will stream these anime films and shows however they can and they will even blow off massively hyped mainstream films to check them out as well.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly may not seem like the kind of film to help completely break the stigma of anime in the West, but its surprise box office success is sure to get people noticing. Mainstream news sites, from Deadline Hollywood to the Los Angeles Times to Variety, have covered the film in-depth because of its popularity and it could possibly mean the same for even more accessible anime films in the future. Dragon Ball may be popular by its name alone, but anime is an art form that is quickly becoming more appreciated in all its versatile glory.

We have muscled up aliens to thank for that.

What did you think of Dragon Ball Super: Broly? Are you a fan of the series and if not, did you watch and enjoy it? What are your overall feelings on anime? Sound off in the comments below!