The highly anticipated movie "Space Battleship Yamato", starring Kimura Takuya, opened in Japan today, and distributor TOHO announced that it won't cast the anchor there just yet.

The opening date of the movie alone is already something special, because in Japan new movies usually open on Saturdays. However, December 1st is considered the "Day of the Movie", and so they were able to make an exception and release it before the weekend.

Kimura was in very high spirits at the stage greeting today, as he said, "I hope that many people will board the Yamato."

At the stage greeting, TOHO also announced that distributors from France, Germany, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have already acquired the rights to distribute the movie in their countries. In addition, they revealed that they have received offers from American distributors as well.

Kimura appealed to the future international moviegoers with the words: "I want to tell them, 'Please enjoy this science fiction movie made in Japan,' and show them that the Yamato is a big enough ship for everyone."

At the end of the greeting, TOHO openly challenged the current No.1 at the box office, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I". They declared, "We aim to break the 8 billion Yen (95 million USD) mark and pass Harry Potter by the end of the year."

Kimura's biggest box office success to date was "HERO" in 2007, which brought in a total revenue of approximately 8.6 billion Yen (102 million USD).

Source: Sanspo