My Hero Academia The Movie: World Heroes' Mission earned over $6 million USD in its opening weekend.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Deku's latest globe trotting adventure came in fourth place overall in its opening weekend, placing it behind the big budget sci-fi juggernaut Dune, the new horror movie Halloween Kills, and James Bond's latest mission, No Time to Die, which hung onto third place. The movie pulled in $6,403,286 USD in total, $2,882,381 USD of which was earned on its opening day, which is a stronger opening than any of the previous theatrical releases for the popular shonen franchise in the United States. The film in opened in about 1,600 theaters throughout the United States, and was the biggest earner on a per-theater average for the week.
Distributor Funimation, which also localizes and distributes the anime series in North America, encouraged fans to see the movie during its opening weekend by giving out a special, limited-edition booklet that included a new manga chapter, behind-the-scenes material, and an interview with the series' creator, Kohei Horikoshi. The movie's story was written by Horikoshi himself.
World Heroes' Mission broke franchise records when it was released in Japan last summer. The movie earned about the equivalent of $28 million USD during its first two months in Japanese theaters. Despite Japan being under COVID-19 related restrictions for much of the movie's run, World Heroes' Mission substantially outperformed the $16.2 million USD that its predecessor, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising earned during its theatrical run in 2019.
The movie is set during the events of the show's recently wrapped-up fifth season, and begins with Deku being framed for a vicious mass murder. Forced to go on the run from the authorities, Deku is joined by his classmates, the fiery Bakugo and the taciturn Todoroki, while they try to unravel the conspiracy surrounding the group known as Humanity, a dangerous cult that sees pro-heroes and Quirks in general as a threat to the safety of the world. As the trio travel around the world, they recruit several of their old friends from Japan, as well as new heroes from around the world, in order to stop the cult and clear Deku's name.
MHA fans still have plenty to look forward to following World Heroes' Mission's release; the TV anime's producers have already confirmed that the series will return for a sixth season, which will adapt the manga's Paranormal Liberation War arc. The arc will feature the world's best pro-heroes and the heroes-in-training at U.A. High School clashing in open warfare against the villains of the Meta-Liberation Army.
The My Hero Academia manga recently returned from a one-week hiatus. No reason was given for the break, but Horikoshi apologized for the series' multiple delays throughout the year.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
