Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, which premiered in the US on September 12, has been reported to have made US$70 million at the US box office already. The score exceeds not just various opening weekend forecasts (which ranged from US$35 million to $60 million), but also the numbers of previous opening weekend record owner (for anime) Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back, which are around US$61.6 million (adjusted for inflation from US$31 million).
The anime movie opened in 3,315 US theaters, including IMAX locations.
With this opening haul, Infinity Castle has already surpassed the lifetime US gross of 2020’s Demon Slayer – Kimetsu No Yaiba – the Movie: Mugen Train (US$49,505,008), the second highest-performing anime film in the US. Now, the target to beat is Mewtwo Strikes Back‘s inflation-adjusted total gross of ~US$170 million.
In Japan, Infinity Castle recorded a total gross of 31,425,916,900 yen (~US$212.7 million) as of September 8 JST, becoming the third highest-grossing movie of all time in the country and coming close to Spirited Away‘s 31.6 billion yen (around 35.5 billion yen after inflation). Unlike in the US, Infinity Castle has yet to beat the lifetime gross of Mugen Train in Japan.
Worldwide, Infinity Castle is recorded to have made around US$315 million.
Infinity Castle is the first in a conclusive movie trilogy for the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba anime adaptation, which began in 2019 with its first season and is based on the Shueisha-published manga by Koyoharu Gotouge. The new movies depict the Demon Slayer Corps’ final battle with Muzan’s demons.
Staff (returning)
• Director: Haruo Sotozaki
• Character designer and chief animation director: Akira Matsushima
• Color designer: Yuko Omae
• Background art director: Masaru Yanaka (reprising from Mugen Train and Hashira Training Arc)
• Background art director: Yuri Kabazawa (reprising from Mugen Train and Hashira Training Arc)
• Background art supervisor: Koji Eto (since Hashira Training Arc)
• Compositing director: Yuichi Terao
• Script production and animation production: ufotable
Cast
• Natsuki Hanae as Tanjiro Kamado
• Akari Kito as Nezuko Kamado
• Hiro Shimono as Zenitsu Agatsuma
• Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Inosuke Hashibira
Sources: The Numbers, Variety
