The Latest ‘Demon Slayer’ Movie is Another Record-Breaking Hit

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle came to the United States this weekend, and it’s doing numbers well ahead of projections.

Per the Hollywood Reporter, the film—the first of a trilogy meant to bring the shonen fantasy series to a close—made an estimated $70 million domestic, double the $35-40 million predicted by analysts. But Sony’s been aggressive with marketing the film in theaters, not to mention the anime itself is pretty populuar on its own. It’s the biggest opening ever for an anime film in North America, the biggest-ever animated debut for a September film, and with an additional $30 million from international audiences, brings Infinity’s box office to $400 million total.

Being a money maker isn’t new for Demon Slayer: in 2022, Sony released the film adaptation of the Mugen Train arc, which was the most succssful opening for a foreign film at the time. While it wasn’t the top movie that weekend, it helped reinvigorate U.S. theaters in the aftermath of the early COVID-19 pandemic and was 2020’s highest-grossing film.

Meanwhile, The Conjuring: Last Rites from September 5 fell by 69% domestically and came in behind Infinity Castle. With a new domestic total of $131.1 million and an extra $60.5 million overseas, its latest total is $332.9 million. It’s now the second highes-grossing movie in the franchise behind the first Nun movie ($366 million) and ahead of The Conjuring 2 ($322.8 million).

As for The Long Walk, the weekend’s other big genre release, it made an estimated $11.5 million domestic. Based on Stephen King’s 1979 novel, the Francis Lawrence-directed film stars Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, and Mark Hamill, and has had eavy marketing in recent weeks. Compared to other adaptations of King’s work, that domestic open is below The Monkey and Doctor Sleep, according to Deadline. But at time of writing, its international numbers aren’t out, and we’ll update when they’re disclosed.

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