The 10th Pokemon movie, Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl - Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai, ranked first in the Japanese box office for the first three days of its theatrical run.

Released on July 14th nationwide in Japan, it has generated 1.13 billion (1,133,403,855 - U.S.$9.26 million) with 1,074,000 viewers. Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl - Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai has performed significantly better than last year's Pokemon Ranger and the Prince of the Sea: Manaphy. The wireless downloading of the uber Darkrai may have a lot to do with attendance numbers as speculated by movie.goo.ne.jp a Japanese movie ranking page.

Opening weekend revenue is up 71.8 percent from 660 million (U.S.$5.39 million) and viewership is up 75.7 percent from 611,272.

Top 4 movies this week in Japan:

1) Pocket Monsters Diamond and Pearl - Dialga vs. Palkia vs. Darkrai (Toho Co., Ltd. ) released: July 14th Out: 1week
2) Travelling Europe (Toho Co., Ltd.) Released: July 14th Out: 1week
3) DieHard 4.0 (FOX) Released: June 29th Out: 3weeks
4) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Disney Enterprises) release: May 25 Out: 8weeks


From Left to Right: Yuyama Kunihiko, Rica Matsumoto, Rosa Katō, Kōji Yamamoto, Kōji Ishizaka, Shōko Nakagawa, Kōichi Yamadera

Sources: Pokemon Palace Network & Goo