The franchise ofSupreme Lord“continues to demonstrate its popularity, with the recent release of its film”Overlord: The Sacred Realm”conquering Japanese cinemas. After its official release on September 20, the Madhouse production accumulated revenues of 318 million yen, with an impressive audience of 198,000 viewers in just three days. This success was further boosted by IMAX screenings that began on September 13, bringing the total numbers to 457 million yen and an audience of 270,000 people so far.

The film adapts the popular Sacred Kingdom Arc from Kugane Maruyama's light novels, a highly anticipated installment for anime fans following the end of the fourth season in 2022. In this new installment, protagonist Ainz Ooal Gown, a powerful undead sorcerer, continues to rule his vast army of creatures and magic users while facing new challenges in his quest to conquer the world. Directed by Naoyuki Ito and produced by Madhouse, the studio behind hits like “One Punch Man” and “Trigun,” the film offers a complete cinematic experience that has satisfied fans of the series.

The film's reception was overwhelming, cementing “Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom” as one of anime's biggest recent theatrical successes. With profits continuing to rise, it is expected to comfortably surpass 1 billion yen, which would put it in the box office blockbuster category for the anime film genre. This triumph also reignited speculation about the future of the franchise, both in the anime and in the light novel adaptations.

While Madhouse has yet to officially announce a fifth season of the anime (but there is already a leak), box office numbers are usually a good indicator for the development of new content. As the “Overlord” light novels still have unadapted material, fans remain hopeful that a new season or more films will be confirmed soon in the future.

For now, the success of “Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom” not only reaffirms the validity of the franchise, but also marks an important milestone within the anime industry, raising expectations for the animated films that will arrive in 2024. Below are some of the most relevant comments from fans on Japanese forums following the film's success:

• «Well, it will definitely reach 10 billion yen. If it reaches 10, it will be a big success.».
• «Outsold Love Live!».
• «The anime movie barrier is getting too high».
• «This is the limit of the smug undead wizard».
• «The real attraction is in the gift novels. There are still more gifts to come, so it will surely reach 10 billion».
• «One film critic said that although non-fans may not like it, if you look at it as a religious film, it is very good.».
• «Who's interested in watching a movie about pouring water on an anthill?».
• «But the freebies far outweigh the cost of the tickets!».
• «Considering that their audience is senior citizens, they obviously have a lot of money to spend.».
• «They should finish the main story before writing more gift novels.».
• «I will only return in the second week to collect the gifts and then I will leave.».
• «Is the movie's length well structured? Or is it as bad as the TV series?».
• «This is what failure looks like. The first part of the Love Live! NijiGaku movie alone attracted 47,000 people and grossed 98 million yen in three days.».
• «It's impressive, if it reaches 10 billion it will be more than enough for a success.».
• «I don't understand how people like this undead wizard. What's so funny about that?».
• «If the movie was about Ainz's complete defeat, I'd be more interested, but it'll probably just be another movie of him crushing ants.».

Source: Yaraon!