‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ Hits New High

Sony’s bold-looking anime movie Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle slashed its way into the record books online and in theaters over the weekend.

The first film in a trilogy based on the 'Infinity Castle’ story arc of a manga comic book series, Demon Slayer is also a direct sequel to the fourth season of the Netflix anime series with the same name. The movie tells the story of a teenager avenging the deaths of his family at the hands of hordes of carnivorous demons and, against all the odds, it has been embraced by critics and audiences alike.

The former rated it 97% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes while the score from audiences stands at 98%. They packed theaters in the United States at the weekend giving the movie a haul of $70 million which makes it the highest-ever opening for an anime.

Released in 3,315 locations by Sony’s anime distribution banner, Crunchyroll, its haul was more than double the previous record set by Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back in 1999. That movie had a helping hand as it debuted on a Wednesday meaning that it played for two full days before the traditional three-day period.

Demon Slayer didn’t just set a record for an anime but even beat Bad Boys: Ride or Die to become Sony’s biggest domestic opener in over two years. As this report explained, it won over fans with its striking art style and high stakes story. Two trends also helped it cut a path to the top.

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Firstly, although adults haven’t returned to theaters in the same numbers that they did before the pandemic, youth audiences still visit, especially if the picture is buoyed by a viral campaign. This is where the second trend comes into play as Demon Slayer conveniently comes on the back of the staggering success of Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters which has a similar theme as this author reported here.

"Put 'demon’ in your title and you’re good to go," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at ComScore. “Animated films just lend themselves visually to the big screen experience and it's a genre that is truly global. September is becoming a month to remember at the box office.”

The viral trend which propelled Demon Slayer to the top can be clearly seen in data from Google Trends, which analyzes the popularity of top search queries. It shows that this week 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Casle’ has already hit a score of 100 which represents the maximum relative interest worldwide rather than the absolute number of searches.

The movie hasn't just defied expectations, it has lifted the box office after a disappointing summer season filled with underperforming Disney films like Elio, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Snow White and Thunderbolts.

Demon Slayer’s bloody visuals have given it an R rating making it appeal to older adults as well as a youth audience in the same way that last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine did. That movie went on to gross $1.3 billion which bodes well for Demon Slayer but perhaps not for Avengers: Doomsday, next year's family-friendly superhero film from Disney which is believed to be one of the most expensive theatrical productions of all time.

Doomsday's look couldn't be much more different to Demon Slayer's but Disney is nevertheless dipping its toe in the horror waters with the streaming release this month of the Marvel Zombies animation in time for Halloween. If that is as much of a success as Demon Slayer it could open up a whole new world for the Mouse.