Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Trainhas been tearing it up in Japan for half a year now, but Japan’s newest and most spectacular anime export had a tough challenge as it faced up against thegory and divisiveMortal Kombat. And it so happens that the box office fight just gaveDemon Slayerthe biggest premiere ever for a non-English film in the United States.
The anime film’s absolute domination of Asian cinemas has propelled it to become the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time, surpassing Hideo Miyazaki’sSpirited Away, which also enjoyed a similar level of international appeal, even ifDemon Slayer’sgeneral themes kept it from snatching an Oscar nomination. Suffice to say,Demon Slayerhas had plenty of hype surrounding its long-awaited arrival on American shores.
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Ultimately, Tanjiro Kamado and the rest of the Demon Slayers fell short ofMortal Kombat’s $22.5 million box office haul, yet the movie still brought home an impressive $19.5 million, beating the previous record for a foreign language film’s North American debut set by Zhang Yimou’sHero($17.8 million). In fact,Demon Slayer’s anime prowess is only beaten byPokemon: The First MovieandPokemon 2000 - The Movie, though these two had the huge benefit of being English dubs, so it’s really apples to oranges oncePokemonjoins that conversation.
The film is being distributed in the United States by Funimation and Aniplex, premiering last Friday, April 23, although a digital release will follow starting June 22. TheDemon Slayermovie picks up right afterthe events of the anime’s first season, so those curious to go see what it’s all about would really benefit from watching all 26 episodes in season one, which are readily available on Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, and Funimation.
Season two of the anime series is expected to be released during 2021, though no official premiere date has been announced on behalf of Ufotable animation. As if all that wasn’t enough, the franchise also has an upcoming video game adaptation, nevertheless, the title admittedly doesn’t look nearly as exciting as theDemon Slayeranime or the mangathat inspired it, which packs a lot of stories.
In recent weeks,Demon Slayer’s momentum finally started to give in asNeon Genesis Evangelionalso raided Japanese cinemaswith the final part of theRebuildfilm saga,3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time.Just don’t expect that one to passDemon Slayer’s $456 million worldwide revenue or match its American performance once it gets to the U.S.
