At the Japan box office this weekend, all eyes will be on the performance of one title – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Cas
At the Japan box office this weekend, all eyes will be on the performance of one title – Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle.
Not only will the animated feature kick off a highly-anticipated trilogy of films, it will also follow up Japan’s highest-grossing film of all time, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train.
Set for release on July 18 by Aniplex and Toho and produced by studio Ufotable, there is little doubt Infinity Castle will be among the top-grossing films of 2025 in Japan, where anime based on popular franchises rule the box office. But how will it fare against its record-breaking predecessor?
Mugen Train benefitted from a special set of circumstances when released in October 2020. Aside from the popularity of the Demon Slayer manga and an associated TV series that began airing in 2019, its box office success was partially attributed to pent-up demand for cinemagoing following pandemic-related restrictions, which were lifted shortly before the release of the film.
It went on to take $274m (¥40.43b) locally, toppling the record held by Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, which made $214m (¥31.68b) in 2001. Worldwide, Mugen Train made $507m, of which nearly $50m came from the US where it ranked as the second highest-grossing Japanese anime film of all time.
After several seasons of follow-up TV anime, Infinity Castle will open in a normal moviegoing environment and face competition from summer tentpoles such as recent release Superman, Jurassic World Rebirth (set to open August 8), and domestic hit Kokuho.
Directed by Haruo Sotozaki and based on the original manga by Koyoharu Gotoge, the upcoming film follows the ongoing adventures of Tanjiro Kamado, a teenage man dedicated to hunting down monsters as part of the Demon Slayer Corps after his younger sister was turned into one.
The trilogy will conclude the adaptation of the manga, published from 2016 to 2020, and follows Tanjiro and his fellow slayers into the demons’ stronghold – the Infinity Castle.
Screen boost
Despite the competitive environment, Infinity Castle will open on more screens than its predecessor: 443 screens versus 403. Of those, 51 will be Imax, a legacy of Mugen Train’s success on the large-screen format, according to Richardson Handjaja, founder of anime business newsletter Animenomics.
“Imax was still relatively new for Japan [in 2020],” says Handjaja. “Imax has really made a big investment in Japanese films in the last few years, and I think Mugen Train helped spark that.”
Four up-to-date Imax Laser screens are set to open in Japan on July 18, coinciding with the opening of Infinity Castle.
Another potential difference between Mugen Train and Infinity Castle is the popularity of Gotoge’s original manga, which concluded in May 2020.
“When Mugen Train first came out, it topped all the manga sales charts, even in the US,” says Handjaja. “But last year in the US, Demon Slayer didn’t even chart in the top 10.”
International roll-out
Infinity Castle is set for release in major markets including North America and the UK-Ireland on September 12 via Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The two-month gap between the Japanese and Western releases is significantly shorter than Mugen Train, which was released in North America by Aniplex of America and Funimation six months after its local debut.
“Back when Mugen Train was released, Sony hadn’t yet acquired Crunchyroll,” says Handjaja. “Now the difference is the marketing engine behind Crunchyroll, the fact they have all the Demon Slayer content, and that Crunchyroll as a brand can drive traffic to screenings. In all the markets that Crunchyroll is present and growing like India and Brazil, you’ll probably see a lot more traffic.”
Sony, which owns Aniplex and purchased US anime distributor Funimation in 2017, closed its deal for streaming service Crunchyroll in 2021, subsequently consolidating the two companies.
Mitchel Berger, EVP of global commerce at Crunchyroll, tells Screen that “since the success of Mugen Train, we have only seen the global demand for anime and outpouring of love from fans continue to massively grow. Our partnership with Sony Pictures has unlocked many new opportunities for us to deliver anime on an even larger scale theatrically.”
Anime growth
While Mugen Train remains the second highest-grossing anime film in the US – after 2000’s Pokemon: The First Movie – subsequent releases such as Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, which took $28m in 2022, and The Boy And The Heron, which recorded $46m in 2023, have shown a growing appetite for anime films outside Japan.
Earlier this month, Netflix revealed that anime viewership on its platform had tripled over the past five years and is now watched by more than 50% of subscribers.
In addition, last year’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – To The Hashira Training, a cinematic compilation of Demon Slayer TV episodes, earned $17.6m in the US, proving the franchise still has legs in that market.
“We may not see as much revenue from Japan for Infinity Castle,” says Handjaja. “But you’ll certainly see the international revenue go up because Demon Slayer is much more of a global property now.”
Crunchyroll will host an Infinity Castle panel at San Diego Comic Con on July 26 with a special presentation featuring film guests, surprises, and exclusive footage from the film – the first time international audiences will see it outside Japan. Guests will include director Sotozaki and lead voice actor Natsuki Hanae.
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