We had another stunner of a weekend at the box office.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – the Movie: Infinity Castle shattered the record for biggest opening weekend domestic gross for an anime movie, hauling in an estimated $70 million (per CNN).

That’s more than double the previous benchmark held by 1999’s Pokémon: The First Movie, which grossed $31 million in its opening weekend.

It’s also Sony’s biggest opening of not just 2025, but also bigger than any of its hits last year.

Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Comscore, told CNN that Infinity Castle is a “box office juggernaut.” It now holds the record for the sixth-largest September opening ever at the box office.

What makes this performance even more impressive is the marketing efficiency behind it.

– YouTube www.youtube.com

Low Marketing Spend vs. Big Fanbase

As Deadline points out, the press and advertising spend on the project was relatively low, at around $10 million to $12 million. I saw a few Fandango event-style trailers at my local AMC, but it seems the most targeted ads ran on Crunchyroll, where the film’s audience already lives.

Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of analytics firm Box Office Theory, said the anime genre has “been building to a performance like this for several years” (via CNN).

So, the fanbase was there. It just needed the right project to unite around.

Second-Week Box Office Drops

Meanwhile, last weekend’s champion took a tumble.

As we’ve learned The Hollywood Reporter’s story, the second week of a film’s theatrical release is now being considered the “real opening weekend.”

The Conjuring: Last Rites made just $26.1 million, which is a 69% drop from the weekend before. Unlike Weapons, it seems this one didn’t have the word-of-mouth bump to keep it going strong.

Other new releases pulled in smaller audiences. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale earned $18.1 million in its opening weekend, while Stephen King adaptation, The Long Walk, managed $11.5 million, according to Deadline. Spinal Tap II came in at just $1.6 million.

These are respectable debuts for smaller, niche fare, but obviously nowhere near the surprise dominance of Demon Slayer.

The weekend’s total box office reached an estimated $147 million.

“For many years, we would see strong Augusts and slow Septembers. It’s reversed this year in a lot of ways,” Robbins told CNN.

Lessons from Demon Slayer’s Success

What can the industry learn from Demon Slayer’s success?

First, that anime deserves respect as a theatrical force. It’s too popular to fully ignore.

Second, you don’t need massive marketing budgets if you know your audience well and where to find them.

And finally, sometimes the biggest surprises come from properties that traditional Hollywood wisdom might overlook.

Let us know if you saw this one.