{"id":22594,"date":"2025-09-14T22:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T22:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/22594\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T22:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T22:24:07","slug":"infinity-castle-opens-to-70m-biggest-anime-debut-to-claim-top-box-office-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/22594\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinity Castle’ opens to $70M, biggest anime debut to claim top box office spot"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2014 \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2014 Infinity Castle\u201d<\/a> carved out a place in box office history this weekend as the Japanese anime film sliced straight to No. 1 \u2014 outpacing the horror sequel \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sony-owned Crunchyroll release shattered expectations with a mighty $70 million debut in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore. That haul marks the biggest domestic opening ever for an anime film, surpassing \u201cPok\u00e9mon: The First Movie,\u201d which opened with $31 million in 1999.<\/p>\n

The film extended its meteoric run, scoring the biggest anime opening of all time with a $132.1 million weekend, according to Comscore. Crunchyroll and Sony rolled it out across North America and 49 international markets, pushing the global total to $177.8 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis performance by this particular film shows the unpredictability of the box office,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. \u201cIf we were sitting here, let\u2019s say a month or even a couple of weeks ago, would we be thinking, \u2018Wow, a Japanese anime film would be number one at the box office, overperform and bring in $70 million?\u2019 If you predicted that, kudos to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest movie is the first in a three-film trilogy that brings the hit Shonen saga to its climactic showdown. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted boy who takes up swordsmanship after his family is slaughtered and his sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon. Together, they fight a supernatural underworld of monstrous foes while clinging to what\u2019s left of their humanity.<\/p>\n

The \u201cInfinity Castle\u201d opener hails from renowned studio Ufotable, whose lavish visuals and breakneck fight sequences have helped make the franchise a global sensation and juggernaut.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s domination also points to a September rebound after a sluggish August. Warner Bros.\u2019 \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites,\u201d<\/a> which opened to $83 million last weekend, slipped to second with $26 million.<\/p>\n

The horror sequel has now scared up $131 million domestically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis shows that two months of down trending box office can be totally reversed over the course of a couple of weekends,\u201d Dergarabedian said.<\/p>\n

Focus Features\u2019 \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale\u201d<\/a> opened in third with $18.1 million. Set in the 1930s, the film finds Lady Mary embroiled in a public scandal as the Crawleys confront financial strain and the looming threat of social disgrace. While the aristocratic family adapts to change, the household staff prepares for a new chapter with the next generation leading Downton into the future.<\/p>\n

In fourth place, Lionsgate\u2019s \u201cThe Long Walk\u201d debuted with $11.5 million. It was directed by Francis Lawrence, the adaptation of Stephen King\u2019s first-written novel is a thriller that asks a chilling question: \u201cHow far would you go to survive?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pixar\u2019s \u201cToy Story (30th Anniversary)\u201d brought Buzz, Woody and the gang back to the big screen, opening in fifth with $3.5 million across 2,375 theaters. Warner Bros.\u2019 \u201cWeapons\u201d<\/a> followed in sixth with $2.75 million, while Disney\u2019s filmed musical \u201cHamilton\u201d landed seventh with $2.2 million. \u201cFreakier Friday\u201d<\/a> claimed eighth with $2.1 million.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the top 10: \u201cSpinal Tap II: The End Continues\u201d<\/a> bowed with $1.6 million, narrowly edging \u201cThe Sound of Music (60th Anniversary),\u201d which sang up $1.4 million.<\/p>\n

Dergarabedian said he expects more September good fortunes with the release of Jordan Peele\u2019s horror film \u201cHIM\u201d next week and Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d coming out this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeptember, after a very modest month of August, is proving to be an absolutely fantastic post-summer month for movies and for audiences and for movie theaters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Top 10 movies by domestic box office<\/p>\n

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2014 Infinity Castle\u201d $70 million<\/p>\n

2. \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites,\u201d $26 million.<\/p>\n

3. \u201cDownton Abbey: The Grand Finale\u201d $18.1 million.<\/p>\n

4. \u201cThe Long Walk,\u201d $11.5 million.<\/p>\n

5. \u201c\u201cToy Story (30th Anniversary),\u201d $3.5 million.<\/p>\n

6. \u201cWeapons,\u201d $2.75 million.<\/p>\n

7. \u201cHamilton,\u201d $2.2 million.<\/p>\n

8. \u201cFreakier Friday,\u201d $2.1 million.<\/p>\n

9. \u201c\u201cSpinal Tap II: The End Continues\u201d $1.6 million.<\/p>\n

10. \u201cThe Sound of Music (60th Anniversary),\u201d $1.4 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2014 \u201cDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2014 Infinity Castle\u201d carved out a place in box office…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22595,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-22594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}