It took Hideaki Anno over 14 years to finish hisNeon Genesis Evangelionremakes, but it looks like the sacrifice was well worth the effort for Anno and Studio Khara. As of now,Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Timehas surpassed the three previous films at the box office with a whopping 6.9 billion yen (around $63.7m) haul.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Timepremieredon March 8 after several scheduling mishaps due to the pandemic and is now going on strong for the fourth week in a row, sitting atop Japan’s box office charts after having sold a total of 4,513,374 tickets.Thrice Upon A Timeis still lacking a date for an official North American or worldwide release, although judging from the previousRebuild of Evangelionfilms, it could take years for that to finally materialize.
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WhileEvangelion: 3.0+1.0: Thrice Upon A Timeheads into its fifth week, it’ll have hard overcomingthe commercial success ofDemon Slayer: Mugen Train, which absolutely demolished previous Japanese box office records throughout a 4-month run in theaters, most of which were held by Hideo Miyazaki’sSpirited Away. Despite having such a high mountain to climb,Thrice Upon A Timedid manage to claim a new record for the biggest IMAX box office on an opening day in Japan by reaching the $740,000 mark, maybe thanks to the collectible goodies some lucky attendants were handed, even if there weren’t any EVA Unit 01 monitors up for grabs.
One aspect whereEvangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Timeis also doing better than its predecessors is critical reception, with the final chapter receiving overall positive reviews, unlike the much-criticized3.0 You Can (Not) Redo. When Anno set out to remake the lauded anime, he always intended to enhance its visual quality. However, most critics have felt thedifferences and quality of storytelling was severely impactedin the process.
The previous three films also got a nice boost this time around, as Studio Khara made sure to re-release them in the same IMAX, MX4D, and 4DX formats, thus providing the opportunity to fully digestEvangelion’s complicated storyline in proper fashion. Perhaps theaters in other parts of the world can pull off a similar event to encourage moviegoers to go watch it.
It’s unclear how longEvangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Timewill stay in theaters. However, just in case it comes somewhat close toDemon Slayerlevels of success, the latter will be getting a boost asDemon Slayer: Mugen Trainlands in North Americaon April 23.
Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon A Timeis now playing in theaters in Japan.
