Refresh for latest…: Big news this weekend out of Japan where anime adaptation Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train shattered all-time opening records. The film, which opened on Friday October 16, as opposed to the usual Saturday/Sunday weekend, is estimated to have grossed upwards of $30M for the three-day. This number could rise above $40M, but box office figures are tightly controlled out of Japan, and so we won’t know for sure on an actual until tomorrow. Regardless, it’s agreed, the debut is wild.
Putting it into some perspective, Frozen 2 opened to a 3-day of $18.2M at historical rates.
IMAX, for its part on Demon Slayer, says it is currently enjoying a record-setting opening weekend. However, due to local customs, the official weekend number isn’t coming until tomorrow.
Such was the anticipation for this Haruo Sotozaki-directed Demon Slayer locally that screenings began at 7AM on Friday and some theaters, according to reports, were playing it up to 40 times per day. From Aniplex and Ufotable, and released by Aniplex and Toho, Demon Slayer is based on the manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotoge. It was then adapted into a TV series and Mugen Train (aka Infinity Train) is the direct follow-up to that.
The Japanese government relaxed cinema capacity restrictions in mid-September, but some are understood to nevertheless have been cautious about the number of seats they sell, and concessions are not available everywhere.
The Demon Slayer story sees Tanjiro Kamado and friends from the Demon Slayer corps board the Infinity Train on a new mission to investigate a mysterious series of disappearances perpetrated by a demon who has been tormenting people and killing the demon slayers who oppose it.
Japan has had some notable local successes as moviegoing has ramped up again in the past few months. They include the latest Doreamon ($30M+ cume) and From Today, It’s My Turn with $48M. Both pictures released over the summer. Japan is also a big market on Christopher Nolan’s Tenet with $21.6M after five sessions.
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