Since landing in Japan with arecord-breaking $44 milliondebut,Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Trainhas continued to enjoy box office success. Now,Demon Slayer The Moviehas surpassed the 20.3 billion yen total intake ofHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stoneto become the fifth-highest grossing film of all time in Japan.
Based on the 2019 anime series of the same name,Demon Slayer The Moviefollowed its successful premiere byadding 3.135 billion yen to its total grossby the end of its second weekend of release. With this achievement alone, the anime film set new records for the best weekend, the second-best weekend, and the best second weekend in Japanese box office history.
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Mantan Web now reportsDemon Slayer: The Movie has earned more than 20.4 billion yen (US$197 million) from over 15 million tickets as of November 8th. In addition to claiming the title of fifth highest-grossing film in Japan from the firstHarry Potterfilm,Demon Slayernow ranks as the third highest-earning anime film of all time in the country as well, besting Hayao Miyazaki’sHowl’s Moving CastleandPrincess Mononoke. At this time, the anime film only trailsYour Name, Disney’sFrozen,James Cameron’sTitanic, and Miyazaki’sSpirited Awayin Japan. In terms of ticket sales,Demon Slayerhas surpassed or at least equaled the total earned byHowl’s Moving Castle.
With little to no competition being released in Japan during the coming weeks,Demon Slayerreportedly has the potential to dethroneSpirited Away’s 30.8 billion yen totaland become the country’s highest-grossing film of all-time. Internationally, the anime film is already playing in Taiwan theaters and is currently scheduled to be released in the United States in 2021. Funimation and Aniplex of America have partnered to handle distribution in North America.
The box office success ofDemon Slayer The Moviemay be record-breaking, but might not have been entirely unexpected. BeforeDemon Slayerpremiered, TOHO announced it would lift the capacity restrictions on its theaters for the film’s opening weekendin order to meet the high demand for tickets.
How the film fares in North America may be a different story considering the dire state of movie theaters in the United States. The head of The National Association of Theater Owners recently warned thatcinemas will go bankrupt without a financial relief packagefrom the United States Congress.
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