“Demon Slayer: Kimet No Yaiba Infinity Castle” dominated the box office, making its powerful $70 million debut, setting the record for the biggest opening ever for an animated film. The $31 million benchmark set by 1999’s “Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back” has more than doubled.
“Infinity Castle” is the first article intended to be a series capping trilogy for properties, and is played in both subtitle and dubbed versions. It also has more rapid ticket prices at many premium large theatres, such as IMAX, and adds to its haul. “Infinity Castle” has already won over $300 million worldwide. Among them, it is the third highest growth release in history, exceeding $200 million in Japan.
Sony’s animated distribution banner, Crunchroll, made the studio a huge hit after a relatively quiet summer that supported the film and released mistakes like Catch Steel, Karate Kid: The Legend and Know Last Summer. “Infinity Castle” beat “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” ($56.5 million), making it Sony’s biggest domestic opening game in two years.
Last weekend’s champions Warner Bros. and Newline’s “The Conjuring: Last Rites” settled in second place, dropping 69% to earn $26.1 million. This brings the film’s domestic total to $131.1 million.
Both “The Conjuring: Last Rites” and “Infinity Castle” shattered forecasts and raised the box office revenue in September. In multiplexes filled with sleepers like “weapons,” it was a topsy turby era.
“Infinity Castle” follows in the footsteps of Netflix’s “Kpop Demon Hunters.” It became the streamer’s most popular film, and rose to the box office when the version that sang in theaters last month was released.
“We’ve been working hard to get the better of our customers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, analyst at ComScore. “Animated films are visually lending to the big screen experience and are truly a global genre.”
“Infinity Castle” wasn’t just a new wide release. There’s Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. It aims to serve as a farewell to the franchise that has produced television shows and some big screen adventures. The “Grand Finale,” released by Universal’s Specialist Label Focus feature, attracted $18.1 million. This is an improvement from previous entries to the Grand House and servants and nobles who will be joining “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” which debuted at $16 million in 2022. The audience for the “Grand Finale” were women (72%), white (73%) and age (55 and over).
Other new releases include Stephen King’s adaptation “The Long Walk” from Lionsgate, which was released from 4th to $11.5 million, and Spinal Tap II: The End Continues on Bleecker Street, sequels to the beloved cult comedy that won $1.7 million while still reaching 10th place.
The “long walk” opening is muted. However, the film, directed by Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games) and starring promising people like Cooper Hoffman and David Johnson, cost only $20 million to produce. Lionsgate has roughly stretched at the box office, fielding mistakes like “Americana,” “Hurry Tomorrow,” and “Ballerina.” However, “Long Walk” attracted 59% of men and 71% of audiences over 25 with Lionsgate releasing the bestselling “The Housemaid,” the Aziz Ansari comedy “Luck,” and “Now I Watch Me: Now You Not Not.”
Disney’s “Toy Story” re-release reached $3.5 million in 2,375 theatres. A 30th anniversary reissue of Pixar’s first feature appears to close out the top five.
On the arthouse front, Mbi released “The History of Sound,” a historic romance with Paul Mezcal and Josh O’Connor at four theatres, earning $85,786 on an average of $21,446 per screen.
The success of “Infinity Castle” became one of the top weekends in September, with an estimated total of around $145 million, with a 50% improvement over the same weekend a year ago.
“September is becoming a month to remember at the box office,” Delgalavedian said. “And that’s good news, because summer really ended with a whisper.”
