Opening day and date with the North American release, Warner Bros AI Artificial Intelligence has scored the biggest two day opening in admissions terms in Japanese box office history. Scoring admissions of 1,037,879 over Saturday and Sunday, it outpaced previous record-holder Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace which drew 916,540 admissions in 1999.

Box office totalled Y1.394bn ($11.6m), which was less than the Y1.495bn from Star Wars: Episode 1 because special "Movie Day" admission pricing of Y1,000 prevailed, covering 79% of the country. Only Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Kyoto were exempt. The regular ticket price in Japan is Y1,800.

The gross figure includes one sneak preview which grossed Y329.6m; the Star Wars gross included two sneak previews totalling Y544.8m.

AI has also notched up records for biggest non-sequel opener ever in Japan, beating Independence Day by 34%, biggest June opening ever, beating The Mummy Returns by 166%, and biggest Warner Bros Japan opening ever, beating The Matrix by 164%.

The film garnered 64% of the total movie market in Japan over the two days, and Warner Bros is anticipating first week grosses of between Y2.2bn and Y2.3bn ($17.5m to $18.5m).

The top five openings by admissions in Japan are AI, Star Wars: Episode One, Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) with 861,293, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) with 762,533 and Independence Day (1996) with 624,987.

In gross terms, after Star Wars: Episode One and AI come Mission: Impossible 2 with Y1.391bn, The Lost World with Y1.244bn and Independence Day with Y1.038bn.