Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle continued its dominant box office run, topping the worldwide box office over the weekend, with KPop Demon Hunters muscling into the top five and The Bad Guys 2 close behind in sixth.
The Japanese anime blockbuster, directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by Ufotable, earned an estimated $32.5 million, lifting its global total above $240 million. Following record-breaking launches across Asia, including the Philippines’ highest-grossing anime debut ever, the film continues to lead in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. With North America, Europe, and Latin America still to open in September, the sequel’s momentum shows no signs of slowing.
Note: Since Netflix didn’t report official figures, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ doesn’t appear on Comscore’s global box office list this week, which is the source we’ve long used for our global box office reports. So, for the purposes of this article, we’re using ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ box office figures reported by other industry tracking sources.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans and produced by Sony Pictures Animation, scored big with a special sing-along release in the U.S., Canada, U.K./Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. Industry trackers put its North American opening at somewhere between $18-19.5 million. On top of that, international analysts estimate another $4–5 million from offshore English-speaking markets, giving the animated musical a likely global debut of $22–24.5 million. That tally would place the film in fourth worldwide.
Universal and DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys 2, helmed by returning director Pierre Perifel, has reached $149 million globally, continuing a steady box office run not far off the course set by its predecessor. The sequel should continue to perform admirably, having recently opened in Italy and with releases in Germany and Australia still to come. Its best international result came in China, where the film earned more than $16 million.
A24’s North American re-release of Ne Zha 2, this time dubbed into English, made only $1.5 million despite being placed in 2,228 (528 more than KPDH). Given the original film’s low visibility in the U.S., the absence of a major marketing campaign, and its status as a sequel to a largely unknown property stateside, the muted results aren’t entirely surprising. Still, the fantasy epic remains a record-setting juggernaut in China, where its box office success has already outpaced all other global releases this year, animation or otherwise.