Crunchyroll/Sony’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle maintained the welcome September surge in North America, opening top of the charts on an estimated $70m through Columbia Pictures for the biggest ever launch by an anime film.
Sony sources said on Sunday morning the three-day haul in 3,315 locations also delivered the highest debut so far this year by a Sony film and any animation, and the highest bow ever by an animated film in September. It grossed an estimated $33m on Friday, $21.6m on Saturday, and $15.4m on Sunday.
Haruo Sotozaki’s dark fantasy follows the ongoing adventures of Demon Slayer Corps member Tanjiro Kamado as he is plunged into a fight against the demons in the Infinity Castle.
The feature is the first in Haruo Sotozaki’s trilogy that will conclude the anime franchise. It has already blazed a trail at the global box office and continued to break records over the weekend, as it has already done in Japan. Screen’s global box office report is published on Monday.
The opening weekend delivered $148m in total and continued the surprisingly strong September after last weekend’s franchise record bow by The Conjuring: Last Rites. Box office for the year-to-date stands at $6.3bn and is approximately 4.4% ahead of 2024 by the same stage.
Focus Features opened Simon Curtis’s Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale at number three on $18.1m from 3,694 – ahead of the $16m debut by Downton Abbey: A New Era in 2022 – to deliver an excellent result for a drama.
Lionsgate’s Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk arrived in fourth place on $11.5m from 2,845. Francis Lawrence, the studio’s longtime partner on its The Hunger Games franchise, directed the grim story of children in a deadly forced march contest. Former Screen Star Of Tomorrow David Jonsson stars.
In its second weekend Warner Bros horror The Conjuring: Last Rites fell and added $26.1m for a $131.1m running total as the studio enjoys a remarkable strong of number one hits at the box office this year. That record will be tested on September 26 with the release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The near-three-hour darkly comical action film earned two rapturous receptions at preview screenings on the lot last week.
Turning to other new arrivals in the top 10, Disney/Pixar re-released Toy Story on its 30th anniversary and the animation ranked fifth on $3.5m. Bleecker Street opened Spinal Tap II: The End Continues in ninth place on $1.7m in 1,920 and the mockumentary sequel to the 1984 classic sees Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer reprise their roles as the hapless British rockers, once again directed by Rob Reiner.
Fathom rounded out the top 10 with the 60th anniversary re-release of The Sound Of Music starring Julie Andrews and Christpher Plummer and it earned $1.5m in 1,206 sites.
Mubi opened Cannes world premiere and recent Telluride screening The History Of Sound in four New York and Los Angeles sites on $85,786 for a decent $21,446 average. Josh O’Connor and Paul Mescal star for Oliver Hermus as a musician and music anthropologist who fall for each other. The drama expands this week.