Now the highest grossing anime film in U.S. box office history, Sony/Crunchyroll’s “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” now looks to become the first anime film to earn two No. 1 weekends in this country with a second weekend total of approximately $16 million.
It comes down to whether it can win a neck-and-neck battle this weekend with Universal/Monkeypaw’s “Him,” which is currently set for a $15 million opening according to industry estimates.
Directed by Justin Tipping and produced by Jordan Peele, “Him” is likely to have a short shelf life in theaters as both critics and audiences are unimpressed. The film earned a C- on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 28% critics and 59% audience. Still, as a relatively inexpensive horror movie, “Him” should clear its break-even point.
“Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle,” meanwhile, is now the first anime film to gross $100 million in the U.S. before inflation adjustment, passing “Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back” as the highest grossing anime film ever in the domestic market.
As expected, the film is dropping a massive 77% from its $70 million opening weekend, which according to theatrical sources was driven primarily by presales rather than walk-ups.
With such a limited, albeit passionate, audience, “Demon Slayer” was expected to be as frontloaded as all anime films are. But that’s not going to stop it from being Sony’s highest grossing film this year, surpassing “28 Years Later.”
The bad news for Sony is that another one of its releases, “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey,” is set to be a sizable flop with an opening weekend of just $3.2 million from 3,330 theaters. Starring Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie — the latter in her first theatrical film since “Barbie” — the movie has failed to crack the top 5 and has earned a per theater average of just $961.
Sony reportedly spent $50 million in a European Film Market package deal for this movie, but critics and audiences are tepid on the film with a B- on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 38% critics and 65% audience.
With this week’s new releases not getting the reception needed for long legs and the films that have surpassed expectations — “Demon Slayer” and “Conjuring: Last Rites” — sporting frontloaded runs, the expected post-summer box office slowdown has arrived with a $76 million overall total for this weekend.
But there’s a chance for some form of rebound with next week’s arrivals: Universal/DreamWorks’ “Gabby’s Dollhouse,” a film adaptation of the hit kids’ TV series, and Warner Bros.’ “One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s first wide release film which has earned as strong critical acclaim as Warner’s big original hit this year, “Sinners.”
