Crayon Shin-chan's new movie set to hit Chinese mainland on Saturday

Known for the hilarious tone and its unconventional protagonist, the enduring Japanese manga and animated franchise Crayon Shin-chan will release its latest feature-length movie in Chinese mainland theaters on Saturday.

As the 31st film of the franchise, the upcoming movie, titled New Dimension! Crayon Shin-chan the Movie — Flying Sushi, tells the new adventure of Shinnosuke Nohara, the 5-year-old protagonist also known as Shin-chan. He accidentally gains superpowers when he is hit by a beam of mysterious white light from outer space, making him the chosen hero to fight against a villain and save the day.

Chen Jinhua, the Chinese distributor of the movie, revealed the film took a total of seven years on preparation and producing, with the animation team consisting of artists working for the 2014 Japanese 3D computer-animated movie Stand by Me Doraemon.

The movie was released in Japan in August, grossing over 2.5 billion Japanese yen ($16.7 million) to become the highest-grossing film of the Crayon Shinchan cinematic franchise, according to Chen.

So far, the movie has raked in 5 million yuan ($700,000) in presale, following director Cao Baoping's crime thriller Across the Furious Sea to sit in the second slot on the country's presale box office charts on Saturday, according to the movie information tracer Beacon.