Demon Slayer should never be underestimated, and the anime is reminding fans of that this week. Following its stateside premiere, the series has waited to get revenge on Mortal Kombat after the Warner Bros. Pictures flick just beat its opening box office. Now, the numbers are in for week two, and it seems Mortal Kombat has come out on top this time around.
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According to Variety, the victory goes to Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Mugen Train this week. The movie earned a solid $6.4 million USD while Mortal Kombat lagged at $6.2 million. Their week-over-week totals dropped quite a bit from their late April premieres. In fact, both films are down about 70% at the box office, so that is rough.
Clearly, Demon Slayer put up a good fight, and that is just what Tanjiro would want. Mortal Kombat tried to get a finisher in last week, but the anime hero stayed his course. Now, he is number one at the U.S. box office, and the Demon Slayer total makes it the third highest-grossing anime film domestically to date at $32 million. The record previously belonged to Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the latest film to debut under Goku’s careful watch.
As for how these numbers stack up to pre-pandemic standards, well – we are not there just yet. The movies both slipped down 70% with their weekly gross. This kind of number is far from ideal during a traditional period, but it is fine in terms of the pandemic. Still, the lagging return doesn’t bode well for some of this year’s most hopeful hits. Black Widow, F9, and A Quiet Place Part II would be easy $100 million blockbusters under normal circumstances. And while vaccination efforts are ramping up in America, our new normal hasn’t quite come into fruition just yet.
Still, there is hope for the future. Godzilla vs Kong has done very well following its global debut. The movie has grossed $415 million to date globally. This figure was bolstered in a big way by foreign markets, but its domestic gross is over $90 million at this point. Movies like this are giving Hollywood hope for what’s to come, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed!
What do you make of this week-two victory? Have you checked out Demon Slayer just yet? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
