Perfect Blue, Satoshi Kon's feature debut, premiered in Montreal in 1997, played Japan theatrically in 1998, and opened in the United States in 1999. Box Office Mojo reports $2,292,123 domestic plus $450,974 international, for $2,743,097 worldwide, largely from later U.S.
reissue reporting Perfect Blue title summary. The headline total mixes eras and territories. This guide separates the original run, the 2018 re-release, and the 2025 restoration.
Table of Contents
- Where did Perfect Blue first appear?
- How did the first U.S. run perform?
- What did the 2018 re-release add?
- What is new in 2025?
- How should you cite the box office total?
Where did Perfect Blue first appear?
Fantasia's official archive lists Perfect Blue as a 1997 world premiere in its second-year program 1997 Fantasia archive. That fixes the first public exhibition to Montreal in 1997.
GKIDS says the film earned acclaim at international festivals. It then opened theatrically in Japan in 1998, well before American distribution.
How did the first U.S. run perform?
Box Office Mojo lists Palm Pictures as the domestic distributor. It gives the earliest U.S.
release as August 20, 1999, with a $9,600 domestic opening. Anime News Network later put the 1999 run at $112,536 during its 2018 reissue reporting. That figure marks the original American run as small and limited.
What did the 2018 re-release add?
Anime News Network reported the September 2018 GKIDS/Fathom run in about 500 U.S. theaters earned $420,881 by September 16. That lifted the then-U.S.
cumulative to $533,417. Box Office Mojo isolates the GKIDS 2017 Re-release at $446,062 domestic and $450,594 worldwide. It opened at $19,020 in 491 theaters and ran September 7 to October 25, 2018.
What is new in 2025?
Anime News Network reported GKIDS would open a new 4K restoration in the United States on October 3, 2025. The announcement followed its Anime NYC panel.
GKIDS announced the 3-disc Perfect Blue Collector's Edition 4K UHD for December 23, 2025, with distribution by Shout! Studios GKIDS Collector's Edition announcement. Preorders include extras such as Kon's subtitled lecture.
How should you cite the box office total?
Box Office Mojo breaks out U.S. releases separately. Its all-releases worldwide total leans on U.S.-reported reissue activity, so release-split figures give a clearer picture.
Use the figure that matches your claim. Specify territory and dates each time. For the 2018 run, give the end date because late-September and late-October tallies differ. That practice keeps original, reissue, and restoration earnings distinct.
- $2,743,097 as the tracked all-releases worldwide total reported by Box Office Mojo
- $446,062 domestic for the GKIDS re-release window tracked by Box Office Mojo
- $420,881 by September 16 for the Fathom run reported by Anime News Network