Film and entertainment website The Hollywood Reporter recently announced that the latest Demon Slayer film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train, has become the highest-grossing foreign-language film on an opening weekend in the United States.
The film had an explosive premiere up and down the country with fans raring to see the new film. Overall, the Mugen Train film raked in an impressive estimate of $19,542,227 USD. The film was distributed by Funimation in partnership with Aniplex of America in Japanese with English subtitles, as well as with an English dub.
According to site Box Office Mojo, the previous title holder for the highest-grossing foreign language film over an opening weekend in the US was Hero, directed by Zhang Yimou. The Chinese production that premiered in various theatres in the US with English subtitles made $17.8 million USD in 2004.
However, the new Demon Slayer flick’s premiere falls short in that it only ranks as the 3rd highest-grossing anime film during an opening weekend in the US. Pokemon: The First Movie is the current record holder, having earned $31,036,678 USD in its 1999 opening in the US. Furthermore, the second highest-grossing opening goes to Pokemon 2000: The Movie, which earned $19,575,608 USD.
Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train currently ranks in the #2 spot at the box office following its opening weekend in the U.S., behind the new Mortal Kombat film (which opened to $22,515,000 USD in 3,073 theaters).
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train opened to 403 theaters across Japan, 365 of which were normal screens, with the remaining 38 being IMAX screens. The film is an adaptation of the ongoing series by Koyoharu Gotouge, following the hit TV anime series that came to viewers in 2019.
The film was a major success in Japan, spending 12 consecutive weeks at the top box office spot, only shortly dropping to the #2 spot during the 9th to the 10th weekend in January, briefly returning to the #1 spot in its 14th weekend. As of recently, it was in the #3 spot in its 20th weekend. The film has become the highest-earning film in Japanese box office history, as well as the highest-earning Japanese movie of all time worldwide, surpassing Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away.
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