On July 17th, it was reported that Japan's very own summer blockbuster 'Brave Hearts: Umizaru' has attracted more than 1.2 million viewers and grossed more than 1.5 billion Yen (18.97 million USD) since its opening day on July 13th.

It's rare for a Japanese movie to open on a Friday, since it's rather difficult to lure people into cinemas on an ordinary weekday. Nonetheless, it still managed to appeal to 190,821 people (mostly ladies in their twenties and thirties) and grossed 239,944,200 Yen (3.03 million USD) on that day alone. Of course the extended weekend due to the public holiday on Monday added the rest to easily make it the most successful opening weekend of a movie in Japan in 2012. On each of the three days, more than 300,000 people flocked into the cinemas to see this movie, resulting in a record number of 1,223,437 viewers and a revenue of 1,563,575,650 Yen (19.77 million USD).

The 'Umizaru' series already spawned three movies and one TV drama prior to 'Breave Hearts'. This time the rescue diver buddies Senzaki Daisuke (Ito Hideaki) and Yoshioka Tetsuya (Sato Ryuta) were promoted to a� special rescue unit made up of 36 of the best people the Japanese Coast Guard has to offer. They will face the greatest maritime accident from the original manga � a jumbo-jet forced to do an emergency landing in the sea.

Of course, only because a movie is promising a thrilling viewing experience doesn't mean that it will also result in a satisfying viewing experience. However, the previous three movies already delivered on their promises and so did the fourth iteration. A survey conducted on the opening day asked the viewers to express their satisfaction and 97.2% of them either answered "It was very good!" or "It was good!". Whether they are going to recommend it to other people was answered with 'Yes' by 97% as well.

Looking at the quality of viewers, it also became clear that over 60% of the viewers on the opening weekend were women. Going more into the detail, it seems that the film was supported by a wide range of ages. 33.9% of the women were in their twenties, 21.8% in their thirties, 17.8% in their forties, 11.7% in their late teens, and 9.5% in their fifties.

'Umizaru' is the most successful live-action franchise in Japan. The second movie grossed more than 7 billion yen (88.53 million USD) and the third movie more than 8 billion Yen (101.18 million USD). Profiting from the summer holidays and a strong buzz marketing, 'Brave Hearts: Umizaru' is expected to even exceed the success of the third movie.

Source: Cinema Today