411 Box Office Report: Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Scores Record-Setting #1

It was a record-setting box office weekend for anime as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle soared to a huge #1 start. The latest film in the Demon Slayer franchise grossed a massive $70 million in its opening weekend. That is way, way ahead of the expectations heading into the weekend, which most analysts had pegged around $40 million or so.

The opening weekend take makes history for Infinity Castle in multiple ways. It’s easily the highest domestic opening weekend for an anime film, over doubling the previous best of $31 million set by Pokemon: The First Movie all the way back in 1999. That record fell on Infinity Castle’s first day when it took in $34 million.

The number is also the sixth-best opening in September box office history, just slightly behind the $75.3 million start of Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings back in 2021, and Sony Pictures’ best opening weekend since Across the Spider-Verse opened to $120.7 million in June of 2023. This also makes two straight weekends where the box office has massively outstripped expectations, following The Conjuring: Last Rites to a stunning $84 million last frame. Analysts expected this film to do well, but this was above most of their wildest expectations.

So how did Infinity Castle overperform so much? It’s partially due to expectations around anime, and partially due to factors around the film itself. As we’ve noted many times in the past, anime has been growing stronger and stronger in recent years thanks to franchises like Demon Slayer, Dragon Ball, and One Piece. There are a number of reasons for this, but the proliferation of the genre on Netflix, HBO Max and (of course) Crunchyroll has been a big factor.

However, anime is still seen as a niche genre and there had been questions regarding how much films like Infinity Castle could expand to the general movie-going public. That skepticism toward mainstream appeal neglected to realize that as the genre grew, Sony Pictures bought Crunchyroll and put their resources behind it. It’s no coincidence that Infinity Castle is the first film released under Sony, who marketed the film quite well while still keeping their costs low on the marketing.

It’s also worth noting that fan anticipation for Infinity Castle has been very high, as it’s the first film in what is supposed to be a capper for the current arc. Critics have loved it with a 97% critic aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences are following suit with an A CinemaScore and a 98% RT audience rating. This was primed to be a breakout film, even if no one expected quite how much it would break out.

Of course, the film is also a massive hit overseas where it has grossed a massive $316.3 million – mostly in Japan, of course. That gives the movie $386.3 million worldwide. (It should be noted that Sony is not getting grosses from Japan, China, or South Korea, No word on the budget, but this is a massive success and while it will drop very hard next week (this is likely to be the epitome of front-loaded), it is going to be a huge hit with a likely $150 million domestic gross.

The Conjuring: Last Rites took a very predicted heavy fall, slipping 69% in its sophomore frame to $26.1 million. That drop ties The Curse of La Llorona for the biggest second weekend drop in The Conjuring Universe. That said, it’s also easily the highest second weekend take for the franchise and, despite the drop, is still better than the opening weekends for La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and Annabelle Comes Home.

In other words, big drop or not this is a massive hit, and one we knew was going to dive considering its overperformance last weekend. Last Rites has $131.1 million domestically and $332.9 million worldwide, not at all far from the franchise records (domestic belongs to The Conjuring with $137.4 million; worldwide belongs to The Nun with $366.1 million). The film is a major hit against its $55 million budget and is still taking aim at around $180 million to $190 million stateside.

The #3 spot was much more mannered, with Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale snapping up $18.1 million. That is slightly below the $20 million expectations coming into the weekend. It’s still a solid start for the reported final film in the franchise, beating the $16 million launch of Downtown Abbey: A New Era in May of 2022.

Downton Abbey was intended as counterprogramming against all the younger-skewing and male-skewing content in theaters and in that respect, it did its job. This franchise has, to no surprise, been favored older audiences who are less likely to see a Conjuring film or an anime action spectacle. Critics adore this capper with a 91% RT score, and fans likewise loved it with a 96% RT audience rating and A CinemaScore (roughly equal to A New Era’s 97% and A).

The question of course is how its legs will turn out. A New Era was a bit more frontloaded than one would expect considering the demo, but it was also released in a period when older audiences were still not turning out to theaters in the wake of the pandemic. Grand Finale is likely to follow the lead of other franchise enders to have similar legs to A New Era, which would put it at around $50 million or so. That’s on par with the $50 million production budget, leaving it to the overseas numbers to push it to potential profit. Thus far it has $12.3 million internationally for a $30.4 million worldwide start, with some decent-sized markets still to open in the coming weeks.

Coming in at #4 was The Long Walk, which performed exactly as expected with an $11.5 million opening weekend. That’s just slightly below the $14 million launch of fellow Stephen King adaptation The Monkey in February, as well as The Boogeyman’s $12.4 million start in June of 2023.

The Long Walk is based on one of King’s novellas written under the pen name of Richard Bachman, and while anticipation was high for the film it was battling against the headwinds of The Conjuring: Last Rites’ strength. While the latter is horror and the former has more of a thriller bent, they were targeting the same general demos and Lionsgate is happy with these results. Frankly, Lionsgate needs the win after a string of box office disappointments and/or failures including Ballerina, Hurry Up Tomorrow, The Unbreakable Boy, Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, and Flight Risk — and those are just this year.

In a continuing trend for new films this week, critics were fond of The Long Walk with a 90% RT critic aggregate, and audiences liked it with an 85% and a B CinemaScore. The film does need legs to be a full box office success in theaters; the budget was $20 million. But international numbers, which are not yet in, will help a lot. Long Walk may not have incredibly long legs but it should be able to reach $28 million to $30 million in the US and should be fine by the time it closes out thanks to the overseas numbers.

Disney had another re-release this weekend as Toy Story came in at #5 with $3.5 million. That’s not a Hamilton-level rerelease start, but Toy Story is a 30-year-old film while Hamilton had not previously been in theaters. Of course, any additional grosses Toy Story gets is just extra money to tide Disney over at the cineplex until Tron: Ares. The film has grossed a total of $196 million domestically and $370 million worldwide at this point.

Weapons slipped 48% in its sixth weekend to tally up $2.7 million. The Zach Cregger-directed horror film now has $147.5 million domestically and $259.6 million worldwide, a major hit against a budget of $38 million. The movie is now looking like it will close near $155 million in the US.

Hamilton suffered the predictable re-release drop as it fell 78% in its second weekend. That puts the filmed version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda at $15 million domestically without an overseas release. The film was already profitable thanks to its Disney+ release and is just making extra money right now.

Freakier Friday scored $2.1 million, down 46% in its sixth weekend. The comedy sequel has now totaled $91.1 million stateside and $146.2 million worldwide against its $42 million production budget, a very solid hit for Disney. It might not hit $100 million domestically, but it will get close.

Opening down the charts was Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which finished at #9 with $1.7 million. The sequel to the 1984 comedy was never expected to do gangbusters numbers in theaters; this was always looked at as a performer on home viewing. And that, obviously, is where it will find its audience as the film was bowled over in every demographic.

The original Spinal Tap is a beloved film by audiences but is also in a niche genre (mockumentaries) and came out decades before the new film. In addition, distributor Bleecker Street is not known for having the money to provide huge rollouts. The studio’s strategy, much like many independent films, is to use the theatrical release to raise awareness and make their money on digital viewing.

That’s going to be the case here, as the film performed modestly with critics (67% on RT) but did very well among the fans who saw it (90% RT audience score, A- CinemaScore). The budget was reportedly in the $22 million range and this won’t be a theatrical hit but should do fine once people get a chance to rent or buy it.

The top 10 was closed out by one more re-release as The Sound of Music returned to theaters for its 60th anniversary. The iconic musical brought in $1.5 million to bring its totals to $163.2 million domestically and $286.2 million worldwide. Again, this is all just extra money for 20th Century Fox (and thus Disney).

Next weekend will see Demon Slayer go up against football horror as HIM, which is being marketed on producer Jordan Peele’s name, takes aim at around $20 million to $25 million. Sony’s romantic fantasy A Big Bold Beautiful Journey is looking at $10 million to $13 million, while Angel Studios’ inspirational sports drama The Senior is aiming for somewhere in the mid-to-low single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – $70 million ($70 million total, $386.3 million WW)
2. The Conjuring: Last Rites – $26.1 million ($131.1 million total, $332.9 million WW)
3. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – $18.1 million ($18.1 million total, $30.4 million WW)
4. The Long Walk – $11.5 million ($11.5 million total, $11.5 million WW)
5. Toy Story – $3.5 million ($196 million total, $370.5 million WW)
6. Weapons – $2.7 million ($147.5 million total, $259.6 million WW)
7. Hamilton – $2.2 million ($15 million total, $15 million WW)
8. Freakier Friday – $2.1 million ($91.1 million total, $146.2 million WW)
9. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – $1.7 million ($1.7 million total, $1.7 million WW)
10. The Sound of Music – $1.5 million ($163.2 million total, $286.2 million WW)