With the numbers coming in, Crunchyroll’s “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle” looks poised to conquer the U.S. box-office with opening weekend estimates now hovering in the $56-60 million range.
The title, the first in a trilogy of films that ends the “Demon Slayer” anime series, snagged a massive $33 million on Friday (including previews).
Anime tends to be frontloaded, so the estimate takes into account that the expected Saturday haul will drop by 41%. However, some rivals suggest the drop won’t be that bad and the overall weekend could go above that and closer to $70 million.
Even if it sticks to the current estimate, it’s the biggest opening for a Sony film (Crunchyroll is owned by Sony) since “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” with $120.6 million in 2023 and on par with “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” which landed $56.5 million.
PLFs and Imax account for 44% of Infinity Castle‘s weekend. CinemaScore audience gave the movie a strong ‘A’, the best grade recorded by the exit poll firm for a “Demon Slayer” movie.
Also, thanks to its existing network and user base, publicity and media spending for the title is kept to a minimum – in fact Sony spent only $74,000 on TV spots – a far cry from the millions the other weekend openers “The Long Walk” and “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” had to spend.
Second place goes to “The Conjuring: Last Rites” at $27 million, a fairly steep drop of 68% from last weekend. “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale” is smartly counterprogramming for the older crowd to debut in third with $19.5 million, a decided improvement on the second film which premiered to several million less.
Fourth was “The Long Walk” which debuted with $11-12 million, followed by the “Toy Story” re-release in fifth with $3.7 million. The “Spinal Tap” sequel flopped, pulled in just $1.55 million down in ninth place.
Source: Deadline
