Shattering box office records is nothing new for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, but its latest big-screen outing, Infinity Castle, looks set to make that a habit. After hitting several milestones at the Japanese box office, including setting a new all-time high for opening numbers and becoming the fastest movie to hit 10 billion yen domestically, the anime pic has held onto its No.1 spot for the third consecutive week.
According to Kogyo Tsushinsha, the third weekend gross saw a 21 per cent decline from the previous week, bringing in 2.45 billion yen (US$16.75 million) for the weekend of 1 to 3 August. The latest figures put its combined haul at 17 billion yen (US$120 million), as shared by the official anime account on X/Twitter, which was 112 per cent of the three-week gross of 2020’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie – Infinity Train.
It also bumps the film up to 10th place in the all-time box office ranking in Japan, with the latter coming out on top with 40.75 billion yen (US$276 million). The rest of the list is primarily filled by animated projects (and only one from a non-Japanese studio), barring Titanic and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone:
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie – Infinity Train (40.75 billion yen / US$276 million)
- Spirited Away (31.68 billion yen / US$214 million)
- Titanic (27.77 billion yen / US$188 million
- Frozen (25.5 billion yen / US$172 million)
- Your Name (25.17 billion yen / US$170 million)
- One Piece Film: Red (20.34 billion yen / US$137 million)
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (20.30 billion yen / US$137 million)
- Princess Mononoke (20.18 billion yen / US$136 million)
- Howl’s Moving Castle (19.6 billion yen / US$132 million)
- Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle (17.63 billion yen / US$120 million, as of 3 August)
Releasing on 14 August in Singapore, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle picks up after the finale of the fourth anime season, where Muzan Kibutsuji (Toshihiko Seki / Greg Chun) traps Tanjiro Kamado (Natsuki Hanae / Zach Aguliar) and his companions of the Demon Slayer Corps inside his fortress, the Infinity Castle, kicking off a decisive battle between the Demon Slayers and Muzan’s subordinates, the Upper Moons.
Haruo Sotozaki, who previously helmed Infinity Train, is directing the movie at returning studio ufotable, with Aimer and LiSA performing the songs “Taiyō ga Noboranai Sekai” (“A World Where the Sun Never Rises”) and “Zankoku no Yoru ni Kagayake” (“Shine in the Cruel Night”), respectively.
Unlike the Swordsmith Village and Hashira Training compilation films, it serves as a feature-length multi-film adaptation. The highly anticipated outing will adapt the first part of one of the final arcs of Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga, and is set to screen in IMAX, as well as both Japanese with English subtitles and in English dub.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
