Cells At Work’s Live-Action Movie Cannot Be Stopped At The Box Office

Things have changed in the anime world substantially in more ways than one in recent years. One of the biggest changes has been how fans view live-action anime adaptations, with recent examples like Netflix’s One Piece and Avatar: The Last Airbender flipping the script. While North America has seen some great live-action projects hit the scene, Japan has released more than a few examples of its own in recent memory. Cells At Work is a live-action movie that many fans didn’t see coming, as creator Akane Shimizu painted a picture of a war taking place inside the human body. Now, it’s latest offering is taking 2025 by storm after a significant run on the silver screen.

Cells At Work first hit theaters in December of last year, taking the number one crown from another anime property, Attack on Titan. Attack on Titan: The Last Attack helped to prove just how beloved the medium is in Japan, and Western anime fans can look forward to this movie hitting North America this February. What makes the success of Cells At Works’ live-action adventure that much more surprising is its competition, as Japan still receives major blockbusters from the US. Defeating the likes of Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King, the live-action portrayal of the White and Red Blood Cells is continuing its winning streak.

[RELATED: Cells At Work Live-Action Movie Releases New Trailer]

Cells At Work: Japan’s Number One Movie For Four Weeks

Hitting number one at the box office is no easy feat, but doing so four weeks in a row almost seems like an impossibility for a live-action anime adaptation. Cells At Work has done the impossible as the first week at the box office in Japan, the movie scored the top spot with a box office pull of over $4 million USD. So far, the movie has pulled in $17 million USD in Japan alone, though it has yet to be seen if the Warner Bros Japan production will make its way to North America.

At present, the movie hasn’t confirmed if a sequel is in the works but there is plenty of material left to adapt to live-action if it is looking to continue. The original manga ran from 2015 to 2021, also going on to spawn several spin-offs to further explore this anime take on the battle raging within us all.

Cells At Work’s Conclusion

Cells At Work ended, ironically enough, with a chapter that took into account the coronavirus pandemic, looking to help readers in preparation of the pandemic itself. While the main series might have ended, spin-offs such as Cells At Work: Muscle, Cells At Work: Cat, and Cells At Work: Medicine have helped share new stories from this universe, albeit under new creative teams. The anime adaptation also ended in 2021 from David Production, so fingers crossed that this live-action movie will spark new interest in returning to this biological world.

Want to see how high the Cells At Work live-action films climbs at the box office? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on all live-action anime adaptations and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.