An anime film slayed its Hollywood competition at the box office this weekend.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” already a big hit in Japan, was the highest-grossing movie domestically, beating new films “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” “The Long Walk” and “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues.”
The film distributed by Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll opened with a better-than-expected $70 million in ticket sales from the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates, making it the biggest anime opening ever. It’s also the highest-grossing domestic debut of the year so far for an animated film.
Its global weekend for Sony, which owns the Crunchyroll anime brand and streaming service, totaled $132.1 million, which includes 49 international markets.
Globally, “Demon Slayer” had already made more than $272 million in box office revenue, with $213 million in Japan alone, according to data from Box Office Mojo.
The success of “Demon Slayer” is a relief to theater owners at a time when other genres are struggling, including superheroes, comedies and original animation. It’s the latest evidence of anime’s growing global clout.
The new “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” is part of a larger popular anime franchise.
It’s the first installment of a planned trilogy that will span the final showdown between the Demon Slayer Corps and the monstrous creatures the secret organization was created to defeat. A previous theatrical film, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Mugen Train,” was a box office hit in 2020.
The new “Downton Abbey” film from Focus Features launched with $18.1 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, which was good enough for third place behind the second weekend of New Line’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites.” Lionsgate’s “The Long Walk,” based on a Stephen King novel, opened in fourth with $11.5 million domestically.
“Spinal Tap II,” a sequel to the 1984 mockumentary comedy classic, opened with a weak $1.7 million.
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