Ninth Pokémon movie ranks second in box office in first three days

Grossed ¥660 million (US$5.65 million) with 611,272 viewers

Article Discussion* Report error Wednesday, July 19, 2006 Originally reported on Pokeani This article brought to you by Bulbanews, your community Pokémon newspaper.

Link to this article [url=https://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ninth_Pok%C3%A9mon_movie_ranks_second_in_box_office_in_first_three_days] Ninth Pokémon movie ranks second in box office in first three days[/url] <a href="https://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ninth_Pok%C3%A9mon_movie_ranks_second_in_box_office_in_first_three_days"> Ninth Pokémon movie ranks second in box office in first three days</a>

The ninth Pokémon movie, Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy, ranked second in the box office for the first three days of its theatrical run. At ¥660 million (US$5.65 million) with 611,272 viewers, it performed worse than last year's Mew and Wave-Guiding Hero: Lucario-- Opening weekend revenue is down 14% from ¥766,849,650 (US$6.57 million), and viewership is down 16% from 724,964. Floundering Japan (日本沈没), another Tōhō movie that premiered July 15, beat the Pokémon movie.

Lowered sales of the promotional advance tickets, which have not been revealed, is thought to be the reason for the decline in performance. In previous years, the advance tickets included a coupon for a download of otherwise unobtainable Pokémon to the Game Boy Advance Pokémon RPG series: Jirachi, Deoxys (via the Auroraticket), and in 2005, Mew; however, this year, the coupon was for a peripheral Nintendo DS game, Pokémon Ranger.

Pokémon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy is the last Advanced Generation movie; the next movie will be based on the new anime series starting in fall, Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl.