Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle storms global box office with record $70M US debut, $178M worldwide
TOI World Desk | TOI Global Desk | Sep 16, 2025, 21:22 IST
North America's biggest-ever anime launch in history and number one movie of the weekend, "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle," began with a record $70 million opening. The Sony-owned Crunchyroll release topped previous anime records and turned on a dime to stage an impressive comeback for theaters in September.
"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle" blitzed theaters over the weekend with its $70 million North American debut, recording the largest domestic opening ever for an anime film, Comscore estimates revealed Sunday. The Sony-owned Crunchyroll release outpaced decades-old records and captured the No. 1 box office position from Warner Bros.' "The Conjuring: Last Rites."
Triumphant on its international box office release, the movie soared to $177.8 million globally and anime film with a record all-time biggest opening of 132.1 Million dollars in international markets across the globe! The 1999 Pokémon movie that holds the domestic anime opening weekend record until now, with $31 million) and shattered its box office predictions.
“This performance by this particular film shows the unpredictability of the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “If we were sitting here even a couple of weeks ago, would we be predicting a Japanese anime film would be No. 1 at the box office and bring in $70 million? Probably not. If you predicted that, kudos to you.”
The film, directed by Ufotable, is part of a trilogy wrapping up the wildly popular “Demon Slayer” series. Its on the story of Tanjiro Kamado, a boy who was turned to be a swordsman after his family have been killed and remodeled her sister right into demon. The show which made an appearance on our screens like a storm of breath-taking imagery and adrenaline-inducing action scenes has transcended into becoming a global cultural revolution.
Industry analysts pointed out that the film's opening gave a welcome kick to September box office after a slow August. "The Conjuring: Last Rites," which opened last weekend with $83 million, dropped to second place with $26 million. It has grossed $131 million domestically.
“This shows that two months of down trending box office can be totally reversed over the course of a couple of weekends,” Dergarabedian said.
Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” followed in third with $18.1 million. Lionsgate’s Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk” debuted in fourth at $11.5 million. Pixar’s “Toy Story (30th Anniversary)” re-release landed fifth with $3.5 million, ahead of Lionsgate’s “Weapons” with $2.75 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were Disney’s filmed musical “Hamilton” ($2.2 million), “Freakier Friday” ($2.1 million), “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” ($1.6 million), and “The Sound of Music (60th Anniversary)” ($1.4 million).
Looking ahead, analysts expect the momentum to continue with Jordan Peele’s “HIM” arriving next week, followed by Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” later this month. “September, after a very modest month of August, is proving to be an absolutely fantastic post-summer month for movies, audiences, and theaters,” Dergarabedian said.
Triumphant on its international box office release, the movie soared to $177.8 million globally and anime film with a record all-time biggest opening of 132.1 Million dollars in international markets across the globe! The 1999 Pokémon movie that holds the domestic anime opening weekend record until now, with $31 million) and shattered its box office predictions.
“This performance by this particular film shows the unpredictability of the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “If we were sitting here even a couple of weeks ago, would we be predicting a Japanese anime film would be No. 1 at the box office and bring in $70 million? Probably not. If you predicted that, kudos to you.”
The film, directed by Ufotable, is part of a trilogy wrapping up the wildly popular “Demon Slayer” series. Its on the story of Tanjiro Kamado, a boy who was turned to be a swordsman after his family have been killed and remodeled her sister right into demon. The show which made an appearance on our screens like a storm of breath-taking imagery and adrenaline-inducing action scenes has transcended into becoming a global cultural revolution.
Industry analysts pointed out that the film's opening gave a welcome kick to September box office after a slow August. "The Conjuring: Last Rites," which opened last weekend with $83 million, dropped to second place with $26 million. It has grossed $131 million domestically.
“This shows that two months of down trending box office can be totally reversed over the course of a couple of weekends,” Dergarabedian said.
Focus Features’ “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” followed in third with $18.1 million. Lionsgate’s Stephen King adaptation “The Long Walk” debuted in fourth at $11.5 million. Pixar’s “Toy Story (30th Anniversary)” re-release landed fifth with $3.5 million, ahead of Lionsgate’s “Weapons” with $2.75 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were Disney’s filmed musical “Hamilton” ($2.2 million), “Freakier Friday” ($2.1 million), “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues” ($1.6 million), and “The Sound of Music (60th Anniversary)” ($1.4 million).
Looking ahead, analysts expect the momentum to continue with Jordan Peele’s “HIM” arriving next week, followed by Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” later this month. “September, after a very modest month of August, is proving to be an absolutely fantastic post-summer month for movies, audiences, and theaters,” Dergarabedian said.