“Demon Slayer” Shatters Anime Box Office Records Amidst Mixed Results for New Releases
Los Angeles – “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” has become the highest-grossing anime film of all time, reaching a global total of $555 million, while other recent releases experienced varying degrees of success internationally. The film, distributed by Sony-owned Crunchyroll in North America, the United Kingdom, and Brazil, alongside toho and Aniplex in Japan and other Asian markets, earned $36 million from overseas markets in its latest weekend, bringing its international haul to $451 million and its domestic total to $104 million. “Infinity Castle” is the first installment in a planned three-film series centered on a boy’s journey to become a demon slayer and find a cure for his demon-transformed sister.
Simultaneously occurring, ”Him,” starring Marlon Wayans as an aging quarterback, showed initial strength at the domestic box office with $13.5 million, contributing to a global tally of $13.86 million.The film, directed by justin Tipping, was produced on a $27 million budget. Analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research noted, “Sports themes do not travel well overseas, and the sport in this film – American football – is uniquely American in its popularity. But the picture cost a reasonable $27 million to make,so it can cover its costs on domestic business alone.”
“A Big Bold Lovely Journey” struggled in its North American debut, earning $3.5 million for a worldwide total of $8 million. The film has yet to be released in major markets including France, Italy, and South Korea. Gross added, “The film should do better in foreign markets, but the production cost was high-that’s a big number to recoup.”
Universal’s “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” performed modestly overseas, adding $8.3 million from 35 markets in its second weekend,bringing its international total to $27.9 million and its domestic total to $31.6 million for a global sum of $59.5 million. While exceeding the performance of 2022’s “Downton Abbey: A New Era” at the same point in its release, it remains below the $194.6 million global gross of the original 2019 “Downton Abbey” film.
