The fourth and final film in the “Rebuild of Evangelion” tetralogy, “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time,” has pulled in $30.6 million and 2.2 million admissions in its first week of release in Japan.
That’s a 45% increase on the opening of its predecessor and, though massive numbers, falls behind the major box-office of “Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train” last year which snagged $100 million in just ten days. Even so, it still broke the IMAX opening day record in Japan.
Anno Hideaki’s 26-episode run of “Neon Genesis Evangelion” in the mid-1990s was a groundbreaking and critically acclaimed work, deconstructing numerous anime tropes whilst offering one of the most psychoanalytical, theologically-rich and emotionally dense narratives of the time.
‘Rebuild of Evangelion’ serves as a four-film more ‘accessible’ remake of that narrative, compressing it and significantly diverging from it to the point of being an entirely new work. The three previous films were released in 2007, 2009 and 2012 respectively.
This fourth and final one, clocking in at a sizeable 155 minutes, comes nearly a decade later. While the third film scored a negative reception, this fourth film has garnered praise from local reviewers. No word as yet on when the film will score a western release and in what form.
Source: Variety
