Pop Team Epic: The Movie

Pop Team Epic: The Movie (Japanese: ポプテピピック ファーストフィルム, Hepburn: Poputepipikku fāsutofirumu) is a 2021 Japanese animated dark comedy film produced by King Records and Toei Animation while being directed by Jun Aoki. It is is based on the manga and anime of the same name. In Pop Team Epic: The Movie, Popuko and Pipimi must find an ultimate reason why their manga and anime was cancelled.

The film was released on January 8, 2021 in Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures in 2D, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema formats. Upon release, the film received positive reviews but its humor received mixed responses and was criticized for its tonal inconsistency. It was a worldwide success grossing $105 million worldwide.

A sequel, titled, Pop Team Epic: The Movie 2 is scheduled to be released on March 24, 2023 in Japan.

Plot
Coming soon!

Cast

 * Mikako Komatsu (Japanese version) / Nicole Byer (English version) as Popuko
 * Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese version) / Anna Akana (English version) as Pipimi
 * Mamoru Miyano (Japanese version) Bill Murray (English version) as Mr. Director
 * Yuki Kaji (Japanese version) / Bobby Moynihan (English version) as Mike
 * Junko Takeuchi (Japanese version) / Alex Borstein (English version) as Popuko and Pipimi’s Mom
 * Rie Kugimiya (Japanese version) / Mila Kunis (English version) as Popuko’s sister
 * Kotono Mitsuishi (Japanese version) / Ashley Tisdale (English version) as Pipimi’s sister
 * Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese version) / Patrick Warburton (English version) as The C.E.O/Popuko and Pipimi’s Dad

Production
Coming soon!

Theatrical
The film was released on January 8, 2021 in Dolby Cinema, 4DX, MX4D, and IMAX formats in Japan by Warner Bros Pictures. Because other major releases had been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of available screens was higher than usual. The film opened in 403 cinemas total, including all 38 IMAX cinemas within the country. The film had a very staggered international release, being released from as early as January 22, 2021, in Taiwan, to as late as November 12, 2021, in India due to the pandemic.

In the United States, it was released on July 23, 2021, and the film was rated PG-13 by the MPA for "violence, smoking, and language".

Distribution
The film is distributed by Toei Company in cooperation with the Japanese branch of Warner Bros. Pictures, whom also handled distribution in Germany as well as the United Kingdom. It is the first anime distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures in Japan.

Sony Pictures acquired distribution rights outside of Japan, Germany, and the UK under Sony Pictures Entertainment, except in North America, where Funimation will distribute it after acquiring the distribution rights there. It was released in theaters worldwide in July and August 2021 with the United States release being on July 23, 2021 where it received a select IMAX release as well. This is the final anime film released under Funimation as future anime films will be distributed under the Crunchyroll brand after Sony Pictures acquired Crunchyroll in 2021 and merged it with Funimation.

Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on September 15, 2021; it sold over 600,000 units in its first day and over 900,000 units in three days. In North America, the film was released digitally on September 19, 2021; pre-orders began on July 26, 2021. On July 26, 2021, two months before its official release, the film was accidentally made available for purchase on the PlayStation Store for a few hours before being removed, resulting in leaked copies being distributed across the Internet. Upon its video-on-demand (VOD) release in North America, the film debuted at number one on the Vudu, Google Play and YouTube charts. The DVD, Blu-Ray and 4K Ultra HD releases came out on October 11, 2021 in the United States. A novel adaptation was released on January 25, 2021.

Marketing
Coming soon!

Box office
Pop Team Epic: The Movie grossed $22.9 million in the United States and Canada and $82.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $105.2 million.

Japan
In its opening weekend between 21 and 23 May 2021, the film was shown on 467 screens in Japan. Iopened at number-one at Japanese box office by dominating the weekend from May 21 and 23, selling more than 920,000 tickets and earning more than ¥1.47 billion ($10.2 million) in its first three days. In its first six days it sold more than 2 million tickets and earned ¥1.9 billion ($13.4 million). The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported that the film has earned more than ¥3.4 billion (US$241 million) after 11 days at the box office. It has also sold more than 3.5 million tickets. After three weekends, on June 11 it earned $33.6 million in Japan, and roughly $34.4 million internationally.

According to Crunchyroll, after 24 days the film earned ¥3.35 billion on 3,504,870 tickets in Japan. After 32 days of release (14 December 2018 to 14 January 2019), the film had earned ¥3.64 billion ($33.54 million), with 2,823,215 tickets having been sold. After 38 days of release, the film's earnings had increased to ¥5.819 billion ($40.23 million). On seventh weekend, the film dropped from sixth to ninth place. As of July 1, 2021, the film has sold 4,009,730 tickets and grossed ¥6,523,490,764 ($45.1 million) in Japan.

United States and Canada
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Daniel: Bigger, Badder, and Meaner, Old, Joe Bell and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins and was projected to gross $5–9 million from 3,001 theaters in its opening weekend. However, after it made $5.9 million on its first day, including $2.5 million from Thursday previews projections were increased to $20 million. It ended up grossing $10.5 million in its opening weekend placing second behind Daniel: Bigger, Badder, and Meaner, the biggest opening for an anime film there as well. It dropped -77% in it's second weekend and made $2.8 million. The film ended up with $22.9 million, the seventh highest gross for anime in America.

Critical response
The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 75%, with an average score of 6.5/10, based on 291 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With vibrant animation, Pop Team Epic: the Movie is a fun ride for fans of the series." Metacritic assigned a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 80 critics, indicating "mixed or average". American audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film an 83% overall positive score, with 73% saying they would definitely recommend it, while Japanese audiences on Filmarks, the Japanese survey firm, gave Pop Team Epic: the Movie a ranking of 3.5 out of 5.0.

Shawn Saris of IGN awarded the film a score of 9 out of 10, saying "Pop Team Epic: The Movie is more or less another anime feature film adaptation that more or less is superior to the series with tons of laughs and good animation." Theron Martin of Anime News Network (ANN) was more negative of the film stating the film was more or less "generic and boring".