One Piece: Red should not be released until the fall in the United States, but is already visible in 631 French cinemas. Something to delight the fans. 119,300 of them have already taken part in previews in 481 cinemas in recent days, announced on Wednesday August 10 Pathé, the distributor of the film. It’s the 15th original installment from the manga series, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in July.
“The film is really ‘heavy’ (great, editor’s note). I had a priori because I was told it was a kind of musical comedy, but in the end it works well. It’s well balanced , the music was really great. Frankly, it was a real pleasure”, says Alexandre, 21, a Parisian student and avid reader of One Piece.
He is one of nearly 7,000 spectators to have made the trip before midday to see the film in cinemas in Paris and its outskirts, according to the first figures available. At the Pathé Wepler, Place de Clichy in Paris, One Piece: Red attracted fans of all ages from the first session in the morning, teenagers but also parents with their children, impatient.
The studious atmosphere and the few applause contrasted with the previews of the weekend, which had given way to scenes of jubilation, even to a few outbursts based on throwing popcorn in Marseille, according to videos broadcast on the social networks.
So I just saw what a One Piece session looks like in Marseille…. So it’s literally become a norm to do shit on a known animated film….@Chriis_Alc have found worse than the preview of the Grand Rex.. pic.twitter.com/45aNUoscVS
— Erito (@EritoWorld) August 8, 2022
Tanguy Amara, employee at Geeks in Japan in Bordeaux and partner of the preview at Ciné Mérignac (Gironde) this weekend, regrets an abrupt interruption of the session: ten minutes from the end of the film, the fire alarm was triggered and the fans could not know the outcome of the anime. Voluntary act or human error? Difficult to determine. Either way, for the 26-year-old, this incident ruined the session.
When he thinks of the incidents in Marseille, he is sorry for the image that the event risks giving to the manga community. “What happened there is an epiphenomenon, adds Nathalie Cieutat, Assistant General Manager Distribution of Pathé Films. When these kinds of films are shown, there is always a certain euphoria. It’s very lively, but extremely good-natured.” Demonstration during the preview of the Grand Rex this weekend where the explosions of joy multiplied without overflows.
Film adaptations of manga have been very successful since the reopening of cinemas last year. They attract an audience that is not used to frequenting dark rooms. The phenomenon demon slayerwhich had broken all revenue records in Japan, had for example garnered more than 300,000 admissions in France in the first week after its release in May 2021.
“Paying 10.50 euros to go to the cinema is too much”, confides Clément, a 21-year-old Parisian student on leaving Wepler. “But for films like ‘One Piece’, I make an exception”.