The live-action BLUE LOCK soccer film has become the fourth live-action Japanese manga adaptation of 2026 to clear the 1 billion yen mark in domestic theaters. It follows Kingdom: Tamashii no Kessen, Sakamoto Days, and Golden Kamuy: Abashiri Prison Arc after a 19-day climb that began with an August 7 opening. The Toho release arrived as Japan looks toward World Cup glory, matching the series’ premise of forging a new national striker.
The official X account of the BLUE LOCK live-action film, @BLUELOCK_MOVIE, reported on August 26 that the movie’s cumulative Japan box office gross has surpassed 1 billion yen, or about 6.28 million USD. The milestone arrived 19 days after the film opened nationwide.
Yusuke Taki, known for In Love and Deep Water, directs the adaptation of the BLUE LOCK manga created by Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura. Tetsuo Kamata, whose credits include Black Night Parade, wrote the screenplay. Ado performs the theme song Monstruo and the insert song Kira. Fukase of SEKAI NO OWARI contributes another insert song titled twilight.
The film opened in 347 theaters across Japan on August 7, 2026. It earned 277,648,800 yen, or about 1.74 million USD, from 188,212 admissions and debuted in eighth place at the Japanese box office.Since that opening weekend, the movie has remained in the box office Top 10 for three consecutive weekends. Screenings in MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema theaters began on August 21.
Through August 25, the film had drawn 705,463 admissions and taken in 1,011,309,100 yen. Those figures confirm the 1 billion yen mark after 19 days of release. The movie is also rolling out worldwide and is currently scheduled for more than 30 countries and regions. The international run began with Taiwan and the Philippines on August 12.
In Taiwan, the film earned 8.39 million New Taiwan dollars from 28,000 admissions in its first 12 days. That result made it the highest-grossing Japanese live-action manga adaptation released in Taiwan over the past decade.
TOHO is distributing the film in Japan, with CREDEUS producing. The studio previously handled live-action versions of Kingdom and Golden Kamuy.
The story follows a high-stakes program designed to forge Japan’s next great striker. Three hundred high school players compete inside a closed training system where only one can emerge as the national team’s future ace. Here's Crunchyroll's description of BLUE LOCK:
Japan’s desire for World Cup glory leads the Japanese Football Association to launch a new rigorous training program to find the national team’s next striker. Three hundred high school players are pitted against each other for the position, but only one will come out on top. Who among them will be the striker to usher in a new era of Japanese soccer.
Crunchyroll streams the BLUE LOCK TV anime in multiple seasons with subtitles and dubs. The same service also carries BLUE LOCK THE MOVIE -EPISODE NAGI-, the earlier animated feature that first reached theaters in 2024.
