Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Wins Weekend US Box Office
This weekend was a huge moment for anime that’s been a long time coming. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero opened in US theaters this weekend, and won. We don’t mean it just did good numbers. We mean it hit #1. For the first time ever, an anime movie will be the movie that news reports will be mentioning when they recap the box office receipts (oh right, Pokemon: The First Movie technically beat it…ah, fudge it, this was an honest anime movie with no weird edits, so if you ask me, it was the first).
To be fair, we’re not talking anything obscure here anymore — the Dragon Ball series has been well-known in America for over 20 years now, long enough for kids to grow up, have their own kids and take them to a screening. Goku has his own Macy’s Parade balloon for crying out loud. But it’s still a massive watershed moment for anime in the US. In the past, movies animated in Japan have struggled to gain acceptance in US theaters. But last year Demon Slayer: Mugen Train managed to land the #2 position in its opening weekend and now Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero has surpassed that.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that Dragon Ball fans could come together to experience and enjoy this amazing film in theaters,” said Mitchel Berger of Crunchyroll, the film’s distributor. “Crunchyroll thanks all of the fans, whether or not you are a ‘super’ fan or a newcomer, and we hope they come back again and again.”
In the movie, the Red Ribbon Army has returned with a lineup of newer, more dangerous Androids created by Dr. Hedo, the grandson of Dr. Gero. The bots have just one objective: DESTROY ALL ALIENS! That pretty much affects Goku’s friends and family directly, and Piccolo leads the charge to fend off the vengeful Androids and save the Saiyan race. The dub version stars the English voices of Kyle Hebert (Son Gohan), Sean Schemmel (Son Goku), Robert McCollum (Son Goten), Christopher R. Sabat (Piccolo, Vegeta), Monica Rial (Bulma), Sonny Strait (Krillin), Eric Vale (Trunks), Kara Edwards (Videl), Jeannie Tirado (Pan), Zach Aguilar (Dr. Hedo), Aleks Le (Gamma 1), Zeno Robinson (Gamma 2), Charles Martinet (Magenta), and Jason Marnocha (Carmine).
And it’s still open, so you can see Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero at a theater near you.
dekabreak
August 22, 2022 @ 8:27 am
Dragon Ball Super Superhero thriving is like Justice from the Hollywood Abomination Dragonball Evolution. I am still having nightmares from Caucasian Goku who is a nerd that got bullied in School. That is not the Goku we know, The Goku we know is the Himbo Daikon Radish farmer.
anime-icon
August 22, 2022 @ 8:49 am
I believe that movie studios should prioritize stronger writing over anything else. The majority of newly released films have weak or poorly written scripts and are not long remembered. People are fussy, believing that certain types of movies are not worth the time or money spent seeing at a theater. Studios should concentrate on telling compelling storylines that viewers won’t want to miss, regardless of the price of the film. An animated film outperforming a Hollywood film at the box office is already cause for concern for Hollywood. Yes, you can have varied casting, but don’t forget to write good stories as well. First and foremost, create quality scripts and tales!
Gogeta
August 22, 2022 @ 8:53 am
I’m not shocked that Dragon Ball Super was successful. It is a GLOBAL franchise with a market value of about $30 billion that has existed since 1984. Why is the success of the movie a surprise to people? It’s commonly known that Dragon Ball exists. The Hollywood remakes from many years ago were a complete failure since they did the source material no favors.
Violet Vampire
August 22, 2022 @ 8:59 am
As a lifelong fan of Dragonball, this makes me incredibly pleased.
BluBird
August 22, 2022 @ 9:03 am
The action scenes were quick-paced and felt forceful, albeit the visuals fell a little short of Broly. On a large screen, it was good to see the familiar faces again, and several of the characters’ stories had interesting developments. but really, if you enjoy Dragon Ball Z and especially Super, you should check it out because it has some of the anime’s comedic elements.
lindseysmathis
August 22, 2022 @ 9:05 am
Dragonball Super Hero slayed the boredom out of me! Great fun, bringing the humor of Dragonball back to its early days. Not to give anything away, but because the film is canon, there is a chance to bring Gohan back to the front of subsequent battles. Two incredibly underappreciated characters that haven’t had a lot of screen time get an amazing spin-off thanks to this movie!
Barukyu
August 22, 2022 @ 9:08 am
This movie is awful! It resembled a number of cut scenes from a recent Zenoverse game more. I was let down by DBZ. I nearly left, but I decided to watch it because I’m a big DBZ fan. People who loved this trash must be positive with Covid because the early sign is having no taste. You guys gotta to be kidding me for loving this trash! It is so bad I rather Ghostbusters 2016 than watch this crap again!
King Bam
August 22, 2022 @ 9:09 am
@[USER=66118]Barukyu[/USER] are you sure we watched the same movie? I had nothing but pure fun when I watched it in the theater and it is packed! Emily in Paris must be your favorite show.
Zankantou
August 22, 2022 @ 9:10 am
It’s crazy that the dragon ball brand has been around for almost 40 years. Imagine a show being relevant and airing still 100 years later, dragon ball could achieve it.
Dwight in a Box
August 22, 2022 @ 9:12 am
I put in extra time at work all week so I could leave early and watch it. In my heart, Dragonball will always be ranked first. It was worth everything. In theaters, anime has consistently performed very well. However, for some reason, Fandango’s Cinemark movies are usually so fast to pull any anime that has been released in the country and only show it on select screens and at specific times. Despite this, when anime has been distributed in the US, it has always performed extremely well. I recall waiting in line to watch Mugen Train when it first came out.
Bulma
August 22, 2022 @ 9:14 am
I still kind of hope this is the last time they use full CGI (at least for a whole project like this), but I have to admit, the movie looked great. It’s a little stiff occasionally when they aren’t fighting, but it just comes to life in the big battle scenes, and it looks absolutely stunning on the big screen. Wasn’t feeling the animation at all, but after watching the film in a theater, I quickly adjusted and thought it improved the combat scenes. The hand-drawn battles always seemed a little stale. It was excellent. Loved the movie even more than I had anticipated. Pan really looks cute here and she is amazing here and I hated her in GT but this movie made me a fan.
Tom23
August 22, 2022 @ 9:20 am
What a wonderful movie and theater experience. A strong story writing, a great soundtrack, and excellent animations were all present. I hardly even missed Goku and the rest. I Just wanna let y’all know, seen this in theater and it’s definitely good to watch. I can’t wait until they adapt it into a television series, just like they did with the battle of the gods film and Frieza’s resurrection.
Maria Jose M
August 22, 2022 @ 9:52 am
I will just watch this in Crunchy Roll because all tickets of it in my local theaters are sold out! I end up watching Top Gun Maverick instead.
Carly
August 22, 2022 @ 12:30 pm
I was standing in the theater when I watched it because all seats are taken. I can’t believe it is so successful because it barely got promotion.
Mulan_Rouge
August 23, 2022 @ 12:07 am
Gohan and Piccolo really shined in this movie. A great day to be a fan of a character not named Goku
anime-icon
August 27, 2022 @ 3:44 am
I just saw this in theater. The computer-generated imagery will seem quite normal once your eyes have had time to adjust. You should see this movie if you’ve ever been annoyed that Gohan wasn’t as powerful than his father. Toriyama finally decided to redeem Gohan after turning him into a loser.