“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle” by Koyoharu Gotoge / Sony Pictures
Based on data from CNN
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the Movie Infinity Castle” broke the record as the strongest opening in the history of the domestic box office among anime films, pulling in about $70 million.
“Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle,” distributed in North America by Crunchyroll (a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment), grossed $33 million in just one Friday, overtaking the previous anime record Pokémon: The First Movie (1999), which opened to $31 million.
“Infinity Castle” also sets the best start for films in the Demon Slayer series: earlier openings were “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” ($21 million) in 2021 and “Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training” ($11.5 million) in 2024.
“We can easily call this an unexpected hit,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of market trends at Comscore, adding: “to have this film dominate the domestic box office, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen it.”
Infinity Castle Box Office Records and Industry Reaction
According to Comscore, Infinity Castle also ranks sixth among September openings of all time and becomes the fifth anime feature released in the U.S. in the last three years.
“This is really ramping up to blockbuster-level status as the final trilogy opens,” said Sean Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory, adding that “demand for the genre continues to rise among Gen Z and Gen Alpha in the U.S.”
In second place at the weekend box office was Warner Bros.’ The Curse: Last Rites, with $26.1 million, followed by Focus Features’ Downton Abbey: The Great Finale with $18.1 million.
In fourth place is Lionsgate’s The Long Walk, an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1979 novel, with $11.5 million.
This weekend continued the trend of releases drawing in audiences across age groups and genres, even as horror remains a key driver of the autumn season.
Dergarabedian also stressed that “a well-curated release slate this month can deliver strong box office in the coming weeks,” with next weekend’s release of Universal and Jordan Peele’s “Him,” which is expected to boost ticket sales by mid-September.
Overall, box office remains steadily active, a positive sign for the industry after a relatively sluggish summer.
“For many years we have watched strong Augusts and slow Septembers. This year, the situation has changed significantly in many respects, supporting the theory that demand has its peaks and troughs.”
