Resurrection 'F' was shown in a little over 900 theatres across the US for 14 days. Though that's not entirely true, since there were several days where the movie was only being shown in way less theatres (we're talking from as low as 66 theatres). Even still, it did really well for an anime film in a limited release, managing to
crack into the 9th spot for the top 10 highest grossing anime films in the US. All the other films above it were movies with wider and/or lengthier releases and were distributed by the likes of Fox, Disney and Warner Bros.
Now, going in this new movie, we've got a lot of things to consider. First, is that it's a continuation of Super. Super's been hugely popular. Back when 'F' came out, it was mostly just us typical Dragon Ball fans who grew up with the show going to see the movie. But now that Super's a thing and has been a thing since mid 2015, the number of fans has probably grown by a lot. You've also got something like FighterZ, one of the biggest fighting games in recent memory, which has surely gotten even more people into the series due to the game's popularity.
Then you've got the promo for the movie itself. Before, the only promo that BoG and 'F' got were social media posts, some tv spots on Toonami, some Anime Expo stuff and the trailers being posted on IGN's YouTube channel. Now? Bandai and Toei are helping out with the promotion and have created the DB Tour. There was a panel dedicated to the film at Comic Con in hall H! A hall that's usually dedicated to huge Hollywood properties. The English dub trailer is nearing
10 million views on IGN's YouTube channel. I was honestly surprised that they managed to make an English dub trailer at the same time as the original Japanese. Just goes to show how much Toei want this to be a success in the US.
Having the film release in January, only a month after it comes out in Japan, is huge. The only other anime film I can think of that managed to pull that off is the
My Hero Academia: Two Heroes film. Not only does it greatly reduce piracy, but the promotion for the Japanese side of things works hand-in-hand with the English version. Back when 'F' was releasing, the dub got its own trailer with its own promotion. But with this new movie, it's getting the same trailers because of how smoothly and quickly the localisation is going.
Taking all of this into consideration, FUNi want to go in big with this film, and so do Toei. I'm imagining a 3 week run, with the film playing in over 1,000 theatres. It's still limited, but I feel they'll make the most out of it. As for gross? I'm predicating between 10m-15m.
As for how it'll perform here in Australia? It'll probably be similar to 'F's run. An initial 2 week run in theatres, but if the film does better than expected it'll get extended. We'll most likely get it in January as well. I just don't know how Madman will promote the film here. 'F' only got exposure through social media and some trailers in theatres.
So, yeah. It won't be as big of a release as a typical Hollywood film, but it'll be bigger than 'F' thanks to the seemingly better promotion this time around, the current popularity of Dragon Ball and the release being so soon.
Also... it's Broly. It's gonna bring in the money.