It was revealed on October 15th that the box office revenue of the movie version of the popular anime series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED FREEDOM, has exceeded 5.1 billion yen. The movie was released on January 26th and had a long run of about four months, and was a huge hit, grossing 4.9 billion yen and attracting over 2.9 million viewers. A "limited-time special edition" with updated footage from the main story was released on September 20th, and the box office revenue including the special edition exceeded 5.1 billion yen and the number of viewers exceeded 3.05 million.
The special edition is a "complete version" with over 500 cuts of updated footage from the main story. The first edition will be screened from September 20th to October 3rd, and the second edition will be screened from November 1st to 14th. Different epilogue cuts will be added to the first and second editions. A stage greeting to commemorate the second screening will be held on November 1st at Grand Cinema Sunshine Ikebukuro (Toshima-ku, Tokyo), and it was also announced that Soichiro Hoshi, who plays Kira Yamato, Director Mitsuo Fukuda, and Producer Hisakazu Naka of Bandai Namco Filmworks will appear on stage. An illustrated sheet commemorating the box office revenue of 5 billion yen and the number of spectators exceeding 3 million will be distributed as a gift to attendees of the second screening.
It was also revealed that the cinema concert of the film, which was held at the National Hall of Pacifico Yokohama (Nishi-ku, Yokohama) on Saturday, July 6th, will be held in Fukuoka and Osaka as part of a tour, and will be performed again at Pacifico Yokohama. It will be held at Fukuoka Sunpalace Hall (Hakata-ku, Fukuoka) on December 25th, Pacifico Yokohama National Hall on January 13th, 2025, and Grand Cube Osaka (Kita-ku, Osaka) on the 25th of the same year. In addition to Tanaka Rie, who plays Lacus Clyne, and director Fukuda, singer Nishikawa Takanori will also appear at the Pacifico Yokohama concert.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, part of the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series, aired from October 2002 to September 2003, and its sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY, aired from October 2004 to October 2005. SEED FREEDOM is a sequel to SEED DESTINY, and sees director Fukuda and the other staff from the TV anime reunite.
The production of the film was announced in 2006, but there had been no updates on it for a long time. It was finally released about 18 years after the announcement. It has also been talked about as breaking the all-time record for the highest box office revenue for a Gundam movie in 42 years, surpassing the 2.3 billion yen recorded by Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, released in 1982.
