September was expected to bring a big slowdown for the box office, but the “Dune”-level opening of “The Conjuring: Last Rites” has beaten back that bleak forecast, and now more help is coming from Sony/Crunchyroll’s “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” which after dominating the box office in Asia to the tune of $203 million alone in Japan is set to break U.S. records for an anime film.
While Sony is projecting a $35 million opening weekend for “Infinity Castle,” independent trackers are projecting a $40 million-plus start for the film, which will have Imax support. That would be enough to make “Infinity Castle” the highest anime opening weekend in American history before inflation adjustment.
That record belongs to the 1999 film “Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back,” released at the height of the Nintendo franchise’s cultural popularity and earning a Fri.-Sun. $31 million unadjusted opening as part of a $50 million 5-day launch. Adjusted for inflation, that FSS total equates to $60 million, which might seem like too much to ask of “Infinity Castle.”
But Daniel Loria, senior vice president of Content Strategy and Editorial Director of Box Office Pro, said that exhibitors who contribute to his site’s box office projections are extremely optimistic about “Infinity Castle,” reporting presales far beyond what they have ever seen for an anime film.
And while Loria reiterated that a $40 million weekend would qualify as success, those exhibitors tell him they believe it’s possible for “Infinity Castle” to clear $60 million, which would not only surpass previous anime record holder “Mewtwo Strikes Back” after inflation but set up the film to pass the $70 million total run of “28 Years Later” and become Sony’s highest grossing film in a “Spider-Man”-free 2025.
“The fact that such a figure is even on the table shows how big ‘Demon Slayer’ is and just how far anime has grown as a theatrical force,” Loria said.
Four years ago, the last “Demon Slayer” movie, “Mugen Train,” became one of the films that helped theaters get back into business after a year of COVID closures, earning a $21.2 million opening weekend and a $49.5 million overall U.S. total.
But that pales in comparison to what “Mugen Train” did in the rest of the world, particularly in Japan, where it was released in October 2020 at the height of the pandemic yet grossed 40.7 billion yen, or $386 million. That allowed it to break the record held for 19 years by “Spirited Away” to become Japan’s highest grossing film of all time, and with a global total of $506 million, it stands as the highest grossing anime film ever.
“Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” cemented the franchise, which first debuted as a manga in 2016 and follows a group of skilled Taishō era warriors tasked with hunting evil demons, as the latest global phenomenon to arise from the action-packed shonen subgenre of anime, joining the likes of “Dragon Ball,” “Naruto” and “One Piece.” It also established anime’s rising grossing power at the global box office, which Sony sought to capitalize on when it acquired anime streaming service Crunchyroll in 2017.
“Mugen Train” seemingly came out of nowhere, with Crunchyroll Executive Vice President Mitchell Berger telling TheWrap that his old connections in traditional Hollywood asked him where this came from.
Now, “Infinity Castle” is set to blow past the bar set in the U.S. by “Mugen Train,” hitting domestic theaters after grossing $295 million internationally — including $203 million in Japan, the third highest of all time.
“Infinity Castle” is the first of a trilogy of films that promises to conclude the “Demon Slayer” story. To get a sense of what this means for fans, imagine if “Game of Thrones” ended its adaptation with a series of films instead of the rushed last few seasons.
Even if it doesn’t hit the heights suggested by Loria, “Demon Slayer” will help shore up theaters to get them through a slower October that is devoid of “Michael” and “Mortal Kombat II,” two films that had been slated to open next month but moved to May 2026.
Also opening this weekend is Lionsgate’s “The Long Walk,” Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of Stephen King’s first — and still arguably his bleakest — novel. The film is projected for an opening in the low-to-mid teens, with Lionsgate projecting at least a $10 million start for this dystopian R-rated horror film with a reported $20 million budget.
Starring Mark Hamill as an Army major in a totalitarian U.S. where 50 young men walk endlessly until one remains, “The Long Walk” has earned critical acclaim as one of the best King adaptations ever with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score.
But even in their praise, critics have warned that Lawrence pulls no punches in bringing the relentless, horrifying violence of King’s novel to the big screen, putting a limit on its box office potential. Still, the movie is set to turn a respectable profit at a time when Lionsgate’s film division has improved from its streak of slumps this time last year but is still searching for more consistent theatrical performance.
For those in older age demographics, or just looking for something without katanas or machine guns, Focus Features is offering “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.” As its name suggests, it is the final chapter in the “Downton Abbey” saga, which began 15 years ago with a TV series that ran on ITV in the U.K. and PBS in America for six seasons before jumping to theaters with two films in 2019 and 2022.
The first “Downton” film opened to $31 million and went on to a $96.8 million domestic and $194 million global total, including $34.4 million in Britain. But the 2022 follow-up “A New Era” was far more muted with a $16 million opening for $44.1 million domestic and $92.6 million worldwide.
“The Grand Finale,” which is meant as a fond farewell for and to “Downton” devotees is projected for a similar $15-17 million opening this weekend from 3,673 theaters. Reviews have been widely positive with a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
