Netflix has announced that it is going to start streaming the first Slam Dunk movie in the United States on August 25. The highly anticipated anime film comes from Takehiko Inoue’s popular manga of Slam Dunk basketball.
The movie premiered in Japan in December 2022 with an impressive entry into the market. It was ranked number one during its opening weekend, selling approximately 847,000 tickets and making Yen 1.3 billion (about USD 9.5 million).
By June 2023, through its six months of screening, The First Slam Dunk had sold over ten million tickets amounting to Yen 14.43 billion (around USD103.5million). Consequently, this triumph demonstrated that it was one of the best-performing animated films in Japanese theatres for that year.
GKIDS brought the film to the United States and Canada in July 2023 offering both English dubbed and original audio in Japanese with English subtitles. The movie earned $662,211 during its first weekend at North American cinemas; apart from which GKIDS released it on Blu-ray disc format on June 25 via Shout! Studios distribution management.
The First Slam Dunk has been honoured with many awards including Animation of The Year at the Japan Academy Film Prizes’ forty-sixth version. Toshiyuki Matsui who is a producer for this movie was awarded a general prize at the Fujimoto Awards by the Film Theater Culture Association on their forty-second annual occasion held on March 22nd-31st April.
Slam Dunk Awards and Recognition
The First Slam Dunk has received numerous awards and accolades. It won Animation of the Year at the 46th Japan Academy Film Prizes. The film’s producer, Toshiyuki Matsui, was honoured with the 2023 general award at the 42nd annual Fujimoto Awards, presented by the Film Theater Culture Association.
The film also took home the Axis: Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation at the 27th annual Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada. It secured third place for Best Animated Feature in the Audience Awards category at the same festival. In 2023, The First Slam Dunk was nominated for Best Animated Film at the 16th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, alongside Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume. Additionally, the film’s sound designer, Koji Kasamatsu, was nominated for a Technical Achievement Award in sound design at the 2024 London Critics Circle Film Awards.
Another achievement of this film was a nomination for the Technical Achievement Award in the Sound Design category for the 2024 London Critics Circle Film Awards where it also received accolades from its sound designer; Koji Kasamatsu.
With an engaging storyline, outstanding visuals and a team of talented professionals involved in every stage of its production, The First Slam Dunk is a true anime gem. Save the date – August 25th – and don’t miss to stream it on Netflix US.
