Demon Slayer has been on a generational run through theaters since it first launched in Japan earlier this Summer, and a new box office update for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle has revealed the film is now on its way to beating some of DC Studios and Marvel’s biggest projects from the year so far. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle has been one surprise after another as not only has it already become one of the highest grossing films in Japan’s history, but it’s become one of the biggest anime films of all time worldwide too.
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These successes for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle have been stacking on each other as the film continues to break records, but the latest worldwide box office update is one of the most impressive yet. Not only does the film’s current worldwide total of $605 million USD bring it within just ten million of DC Studios’ own Superman‘s worldwide box office of $615 million USD, but the film has already outperformed each one of Marvel’s theatrical releases from this year.
Demon Slayer Dominates the Worldwide Box Office
The biggest takeaway from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba‘s success at the box office is the fact that audience tastes are changing a great deal. Seeing it beat out not only Superman within the next week or so, but each of Marvel’s films mark a new era for theaters. This year alone, Marvel released The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts*. For one reason or another, none of these films have cracked $600 million worldwide. That’s what made Superman even more impressive as it was the first superhero based film to actually hit that high mark compared to its compatriots.
Seeing Demon Slayer blow right past each of these films, however, not only showcases how big of a deal anime has become, but also how the superhero film era has likely passed. Tastes of theatergoers have started to change, and they are now seeking different kinds of entertainment from their feature films. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle was able to capitalize on the success of its TV anime series, and has converted that to some real dollars at the box office. And it’s still going as there are a few more regions (like China) that the film has yet to release in.
What Does This Mean for Demon Slayer’s Future?
Making this all even more impressive is that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is only the first of a planned new trilogy of films adapting the massive Infinity Castle arc from Koyoharu Gotoge’s original manga. The success of this film, and it having such a long tail in theaters, is going to be a double edged sword to fans, however. Crunchyroll’s CEO already confirmed that the film is likely not going to have a home media or streaming release anytime soon, and it’s likely going to be an even longer wait for the follow up films.
With this first film doing so well, it means there’s not going to be any real rush of bringing the other two films to theaters. This is both a good thing and bad thing. Good in that the next two films will likely have much more to offer as hopefully the team behind it all has more time to work on them, but bad in that it might really be a while before the next one hits. There’s a chance that this hotness and newness of it all will wear off before then.
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