It’s official, after an exceptional debut at the box office opening weekend, the Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero movie is now officially the highest-grossing domestic Dragon Ball film of all time based on the USA movie theater numbers.
Internationally, the worldwide Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero box office numbers still need a few dozen million to surpass films like Dragon Ball Super: Broly, but it’s an impressive feat nonetheless.
The movie, which follows the return of the Red Ribbon Army, comes at a time when anime films have been surpassing expectations at the box office. With the overwhelming success of films like Kimestu no Yaiba Mugen Train, more and more franchises are announcing film projects.
Produced by Toei Animation, the film has done well both with fans and critically, managing a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.54 on My Anime List.
What franchise films did Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero surpass in the USA?
To claim the title of the number one Dragon Ball movie stateside, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero had to overtake nine other franchise films. According to Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro, these are the following Dragon Ball box office numbers for the films in the USA at the time of this article’s publishing:
- Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022) – $31,289,350
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018) – $30,712,119
- Dragon Ball Evolution (2009) – $9,362,785
- Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection “F” (2015) – $8,008,363
- Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013) – $2,553,002
- Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993) – $658,982
- A tie between Dragon Ball Z: Bardock – The Father of Goku (1990) & Dragon Ball Z: Revival Fusion (1995) – $270,354
- Dragon Ball Z: The World’s Strongest (1990) – no domestic box office numbers
- Dragon Ball Mystical Adventure (1988) – no domestic box office numbers
What other anime films have Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero surpassed at the box office?
Along with becoming the highest-grossing Dragon Ball movie in franchise history, Super Hero has also become the fifth highest-grossing anime movie of all time.
At the time of this article, Super Hero’s current $31 million dollar haul puts it just below the Jujutsu Kaisen 0 movie that premiered in US theaters in March of 2022. The other top ten anime films according to Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro are:
- Pokemon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back (1999) – $85,744,662
- Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train (2021) – $49,505,008
- Pokemon the Movie 2000 (2000) – $43,758,684
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Move (2022) – $34,542,754
- Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022) – $31,289,350
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2019) – $30,712,119
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie – Pyramid of Light (2004) – $19,765,868
- The Secret World of Arrietty (2012) – $19,765,868
- Pokemon 3 the Movie: Spell of the Unknown (2001) – $17,052,128
- Ponyo (2009) – $15,090,399
Overall, the film is doing quite well for itself. With a few more impressive weekends at the box office, it even has a chance to become the fourth highest-grossing anime film of all time.