The Last -Naruto: The Movie- opened on Saturday, December 6, 2014 in Japan and is already #1 in all box offices, earning, so far, a total of 515 million yen ($4.27 million USD). That total continues to grow every single day and the film is projected to exceed 2 billion yen ($16.8 million USD). The movie is so popular that analysts say that it is outpacing the previous Naruto movie, Road to Ninja, by a growth rate of 175%. Road to Ninja finished with 1.48 billion yen ($12.1 million USD). If the movie succeeds in achieving the 2 billion yen mark, this will be an all-time record for the Naruto series as a whole. The Last -Naruto: The Movie- is the 10th movie in the Naruto franchise and it is certainly not truly “The Last.”
Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of the Naruto series, says an 11th film is slated for release in August of 2015. It will focus on Naruto and Hinata’s son Bolt as well as Sasuke and Sakura’s daughter Sarada. Kishimoto confirms that the four main characters will appear in the movie and that he has developed Bolt’s trademark jutsu move, but for obvious spoiler reasons, declined to state what that jutsu will be.
The Last -Naruto: The Movie- and the new film next year are part of the “Naruto Shin Jidai Kaimaku Project” (Naruto‘s New Era Opening Project) which will mark the 15th anniversary of the Naruto series. The manga ended in November after 15 years of serialization, producing 700 chapters. A new mini-series by Kishimoto with “a newly budding Konoha story” will launch next spring. An art exhibition as well as a stage play will also debut next spring.
Finally, a new trailer for the movie has surfaced with commentary from the seiyuu (voice actors) of the characters.
The text translation in the video is as follows:
Text: Naruto’s final story
Lee: Is this the end, Naruto!?
Naruto: It’s gonna get lonely!
Shikamaru: we’ve grown into adults, huh?
Sakura: By the way, when did Hinata become the main female star?
Naruto: Um…! Anyway, everyone, one, two…
All: The Last -Naruto the Movie-
Text: A big hit, leading to a new generation!
Bolt: Dad!
All: Dad!?
