In 2004 Yu-Gi-Oh! was one of the biggest anime worldwide. 4Kids Entertainment successfully created a second merchandise bonanza in America after they successfully helped make Pokemon a hit in the United States, and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and merchandise were flying off the shelves the previous two Christmases. As with Pokemon, it was logical that a movie would be made to capitalize on the success of the franchise.
Though there were high expectations, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie ultimately underperformed at the box office and failed to achieve the success of Pokemon: The First Movie. Despite this, numbers would suggest that the movie was still successful on some level. Was it though? Unlike Pokemon: The First Movie, the release of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie was a lot more complicated, and success was harder to measure as a result.
What was Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie About?
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light follows Yugi Muto, the series’ main protagonist, and his friends as they face a new threat to the world. An ancient Egyptian relic called the Pyramid of Light resurfaces, and with it comes an evil sorcerer named Anubis. Anubis seeks to destroy the world using the power of the Pyramid of Light, and Yugi must duel against him to save humanity. The film showcases intense duels between Yugi and other skilled duelists, featuring the iconic card game mechanics of Yu-Gi-Oh! that involve summoning powerful monsters and using strategic spells and traps.
As the story unfolds, Yugi discovers the connection between the Millennium Puzzle, his ancient Egyptian past, and the origins of Anubis. While not based on an original story by Kazuki Takahashi, it none-the-less expands on the themes of friendship, courage, and the importance of believing in oneself, which are central to the franchise. Unlike most Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, this film was commissioned specifically by 4Kids Entertainment, and thus no localization was really needed, as the script was written the exact way 4Kids wanted it to be written.
What Were the Expectations?
Although it's difficult to determine exactly what the expectations of the box office were for Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie internally, externally expectations were very high. The TV series was the number one show on Saturday mornings. The cards were flying off the shelves. While the Pokemon movies were diminishing in box office returns, considering the cost to license and dub them were considerably lower than they would be to make a new film from scratch, many analysts on Wall Street were convinced that the film would be a major success. Articles were written about how 4Kids stock could be poised to make big moves.
Certainly 4Kids themselves saw potential with the film, giving it a full-blown marking campaign, a (what turned out to be a disastrous) Burger King kids meal promotion, and (most notably) they shouldered all these costs themselves. There was no partnership with a major studio in America (Warner Bros. had previously partnered with them to release the first three Pokemon movies). 4Kids Entertainment were going solo with this one, and it turned out they were putting more into this film than they ever had for any of their previous productions.
Unlike the Pokemon movies, 4Kids Entertainment paid to have Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light made for an American audience. The script was tailored for American audiences, and the English dialog, music, and sound effects were all made for American’s, making the English version of the movie a rare instance in the anime industry where the original version is the English language and the Japanese version was the dub. A company doesn’t pour those kinds of resources into a product unless they believe it will yield decent financial results.
Where Did Things Go Wrong?
While it’s difficult to pinpoint the one thing that went wrong, there are a few areas where the ball was dropped. The first problem may have been the fact that 4Kids had to make the movie themselves. Unlike other anime properties where they simply had to deal with the cost of dubbing, in this case they were on the hook for the film's production costs as well. Add in the fact that they also distributed the film themselves (whereas Warner Bros. distributed the Pokemon films) and 4Kids found themselves taking on virtual all the of the risks.
Should the film succeed, they would reap more rewards, but this also meant they would be on the hook for losses should the film flop. While the final budget for the film was never reveled, considering the average anime film costs between $20 to $35 million per film, a $29.3 million dollar gross likely meant the profits were fairly low. It also didn’t help that the marketing wasn’t up to snuff. Not only did commercials for the movie fairly vague on what the film was about (a quarter of all ads focused on the fact that you got a trading card with each ticket bought), kids promotions with companies like Burger King seemed to completely missed what made the franchise so popular.
Finally, reception to Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie was largely negative. Most critics didn’t bother to review the film at all (costing it valuable newspaper space), but those that did tore the movie up to shreds, and for years it was one of the rare movies to receive a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes (it has since risen to 5% as of this writing). So was Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie a bomb? Well, it’s difficult to say with some key numbers missing, but based on previous history and what we do know, it’s safe to say the movie wasn’t a success. 4Kids invested more on this movie than they had with previous anime they dubbed, and they certainly didn’t get the results they wanted.
This would also be one of the last anime movies they would release in theaters, as future Pokemon movies were sent directly to video (and they never dubbed one of the dozen One Piece movies they had access to). Ironically, the movie seems more successful now seeing that it is being licensed to a dozen or so streaming services, so long term it may have been a success. At the time of the initial release though it’s clear Wall Street wasn’t impressed, and a few years later 4Kids would be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. That doesn’t exactly scream “hit movie” to the casual observer (or potential investors).