{"id":226360,"date":"2025-09-14T14:36:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T14:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/226360\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T14:36:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T14:36:14","slug":"infinity-castle-breaks-records-with-70m-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/226360\/","title":{"rendered":"Infinity Castle Breaks Records With $70M Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSUNDAY AM:<\/strong> Sony hasn\u2019t reported their official figures yet, but we understand that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle<\/a> <\/strong>had quite the robust Saturday yesterday north of $21M<\/strong>+ which will get the Crunchyroll movie to a $70M<\/strong> opening. This is off of estimates last night. That\u2019s the sixth biggest opening of September, in addition to the best ever for an anime movie, best ever for Crunchyroll, and best for Sony over the last two years. <\/p>\n

\n\tWhile some sources were calling Infinity Castle at these high echelon numbers, the ongoing concern was that the anime narrow audience would reach its limit in attendance this weekend. Read, per Screen Engine\/Comscore\u2019s PostTrak, there was very little walk-up business at 33% with 67% of the audience buying tickets in advance (within the last week or more). <\/p>\n

\n\tAll of this bodes well for moviegoing \u2014 yes, it does cynics. No one was expecting September to overperform the way it is now with record openings for a Conjuring movie last weekend with Last Rites ($84M) and now the crazy start to Infinity Castle. All good vibes for Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s most commercial movie (at $130M), One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, which is already getting great word of mouth ahead of its Sept. 26 opening, some saying it\u2019s so well paced, like it\u2019s Keanu Reeves\u2019 Speed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe P&A on these anime movies are quite low, Sony capturing the lion\u2019s share of the audience on streaming service Crunchyroll in trailers and ads, that OTT service reaching 17M. Some of the shout-outs in the marketing campaign include a the first ever Demon Slayer watch party with a 24-hour of the entire series across Crunchyroll YouTube channels worldwide. In addition to collectibles and popcorn buckets available at theaters for the movie, paid campaigns included YouTube, Meta, TikTok, X; Crunchyroll FAST channels and the store landing page and Playstation. The movie was showcased in an outdoor push at Cannes, Annecy, Venice Film Festival, and CineEurope with trailer drops at CES, CinemaCon, Anime Expo, as well as a Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The LA Dodgers had a \u201cDemon Slayer Night\u201d with exclusive hats and a drone show. In addition there were Texas Rangers stadium activations.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is the fourth Demon Slayer movie to be released in U.S. theaters, the last one was in 2021 before Sony Pictures acquired Crunchyroll. Hence, it\u2019s the first Demon Slayer released under the Sony label. <\/p>\n

\n\tFocus Features\u2019 Downton Abbey: Grand Finale<\/strong> after looking like it would hit $20M, eased back greatly with what\u2019s now a $18.1M<\/strong> opening after a $5.3M Saturday, -40% from Friday\/previews\u2019 $8.8M. That\u2019s the second best opening in the franchise after 2019\u2019s $31M. AMC Lincon Square in NYC is still the threequel\u2019s top gross at $47K. The pic cost a net of $50M before P&A. <\/p>\n

\n\tMore..<\/p>\n

\n\tSATURDAY AM:<\/strong> Forget about the biggest anime opening of all-time stateside, that\u2019s easy. What Sony has is their biggest opening of not just 2025 to date, but also arguably bigger than any of its hits last year in Crunchyroll\u2019s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle<\/strong> which stands to open to $56M-$60M+ <\/strong>after a massive $33M<\/strong> Friday.<\/p>\n

\n\tGiven the front-loaded nature of anime movies, sources are forecasting that Saturday drops about 41% against that Friday\/previews number for a $19.5M take today. That said, there are some out there who believe this castle could spiral upward to the heavens to a $70M take.<\/p>\n

\n\tInfinity Castle not only outstrips this year\u2019s start of Sony\u2019s 28 Years Later ($30M), but it\u2019s bigger than last year\u2019s Venom: The Last Dance ($51M), It Ends With Us ($50M) and likely Bad Boys: Ride or Die ($56.5M). The last big opening for Sony was June 2023\u2019s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with $120.6M. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKoyoharu Gotoge\/Shueisha, Aniplex, ufotable<\/p>\n

\n\tTalk about a secret weapon that no one noticed \u2014 and by that we mean, like, two months ago. It wasn\u2019t apparent Sony had a killer swordsman at the B.O. until advance tickets went on sale, notching an anime record (over 5 days) with $10M for the top three circuits. For those who don\u2019t know what a Demon Slayer is, such as myself, I\u2019m told the je ne sais quoi magnetism of this movie for fans is that it stands as a pivotal point in the franchise; essentially, it\u2019s Empire Strikes Back. CinemaScore audience gave the movie a solid A, the best grade recorded by the exit poll firm for a Demon Slayer movie (the 2023 and 2024 editions receiving B+s).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe other magic trick with these Crunchyroll movies is that it doesn\u2019t take much media spend to pull in this audience, with the label knowing where to reach the faithful, head on.<\/p>\n

\n\tiSpot shows that Sony spent very little in linear ($74K) next to Lionsgate\u2019s $3.5M shell out to promote The Long Walk<\/a> and Focus Features\u2019 $5.7M spend for Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale<\/a>. Sony\u2019s linear campaign reached 17M TV ad impressions, as opposed to Long Walk\u2018s 159M and Downton Abbey\u2018s 962M. Sony ran spots for Infinity Castle on TBS, Adult Swim and TNT on shows such as WWE Friday Night Smackdown, AEW Dynamite, AEW Collision, Futurama and Dragon Ball DAIMA.<\/p>\n

\n\tPLFs and Imax are repping a huge 44% of Infinity Castle\u2018s weekend with an even play across the country, but best in the West. The Regal Irvine Spectrum has already racked up close to $100K (wow). Huge turnout by Hispanic and Latino audiences at 37%, followed by 27% Caucasian, 16% Black and 14% Asian. 57% overall male skew. The movie has already broken local opening records abroad for an anime movie with an overall foreign total of $350M <\/strong>per The Numbers, the bulk of that from Japan.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Joshua<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018The Long Walk\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMurray Close\/Lionsgate<\/p>\n

\n\tTogether, Infinity Castle, which is pulling in 71% among 18-34 moviegoers, and the second weekend of Conjuring: Last Rites <\/strong>($27M<\/strong> in second) are eating Long Walk<\/strong>\u2018s lunch which is pulling in 61% with 18-34 with $11M-$12.5M<\/strong> in fourth place. Infinity Castle also has, inside its walls, the under 25 demo at 48% as opposed to Long Walk\u2018s 29%. Infinity Castle planted its flag on the schedule first, quite evident in March and Lionsgate followed with The Long Walk dating its release back in April. In hindsight, Long Walk should have taken a hike to another weekend, but again, no one knew how big Demon Slayer would be. That said, the opening here for Long Walk is just below that of other recent Stephen King movie adaptations, this year\u2019s Monkey ($14M) and 2019\u2019s Doctor Sleep ($14.1M). Lionsgate calculators, which budgeted this movie at a net $20M, had to take those comps into account. Despite having the tagline \u201cThe Task Is Simple: Walk or Die,\u201d no one is running out in Red Army numbers to watch this death walk movie about young men versus the Man. Despite having Hunger Games\u2018 Francis Lawrence\u2019s name on the pic as director, and rising genre scribe JT Mollner, the pic stars plenty of fresh faces and carries what looks to be an anti-military message in its trailers, which is bound to upset the middle of the country. That said, the movie\u2019s best areas of play are the East, Midwest and West. AMC Burbank is the top grossing venue at $23K. There\u2019s a handful of PLFs, but they\u2019re not doing much. Diversity demos were 55% Caucasian, 18% Latino and Hispanic, 17% Black and 7% Asian.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Laura<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Laura Carmichael, Harry Hadden-Paton, Elizabeth, McGovern Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery in \u2018Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRory Mulvey\/Focus Features<\/p>\n

\n\tThat said, Focus Features\u2019 decision to open Downton Abbey: Grand Finale<\/strong> as counterprogramming to the young kid movies is a genius distribution release maneuver, the threequel\u2019s opening at $19.5M <\/strong>in third is already higher than the series previous title, New Era ($16M). The studios don\u2019t counterprogram enough to opposing demo movies: You can\u2019t just date \u2019em on the calendar, but you have to put some marketing heft behind such titles to open them to a respectable level like we\u2019re seeing here. Over 55 here is a great 56% with an overall heavy female skew of 72%, on par with other Downton movies. Grand Finale lands the third straight A for a Downton Abbey movie. Grand Finale isn\u2019t just a big city movie or one for the coasts, but is attracting those in the East, South, Midwest and Mountain regions with AMC Lincoln Square the top grossing venue with just over $31K. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"'Spinal<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018Spinal Tap II: The End Continues\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBleecker Street<\/p>\n

\n\tNot doing well at all unfortunately is Bleecker Street\u2019s release of Rob Reiner\u2019s Spinal Tap II: The End Continues<\/strong> which is opening to around $1.55M<\/strong> at 1,920 theaters \u2014 not very good for a wide release with a per theater of $807. Too bad, as there was a lot of Hollywood love for this movie the other night at its Tuesday premiere with a standing ovation from Jack Black, Jay Roach, Nick Kroll, Jim Gianopulos, Billy Crystal and more. Note that this was a distribution deal for Bleecker Street, which is only on the hook for P&A. Reiner\u2019s Spinal Tap spurred the Christopher Guest 1990s-into-early aughts revolution of mockumentaries, which were always arthouse plays, mostly platform releases. The top opening for a Guest mockumentary was 2003\u2019s A Mighty Wind with $2.1M<\/strong> at \u2014 get this \u2014 133 theaters. It\u2019s unfortunate that nowadays it takes more screens to get about the same size gross for a specialty release like this. The overall play here, like the original 1984 movie, This Is Spinal Tap, is home ancillary. That\u2019s where Spinal Tap cultivated its generations of followers. The few who showed up, of course fans, gave it an A-. Seventy-four percent guys, with those over 45 at 60%, meaning the franchise\u2019s core Gen X and older. Caucasians were 83% followed by 8% Latino and Hispanic, 5% Asian and 1% Black.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe entire marketplace is coming in around $147M<\/strong> for all movies, +57% of the same frame a year ago when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice pulled in a second frame of $51.3M. <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Demon Slayer\u2026Infinity Castle (Sony) 3,315 theaters, Fri $33M, 3-day $56M-$60M\/Wk 1<\/li>\n
  2. The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/a> (NL) 3,802 theaters, Fri $8.4M (-76%), 3-day $27M (-68%), Total $131.9M\/Wk 2<\/li>\n
  3. Downton Abbey: Grand Finale (Focus) 3,694 theaters, Fri $8.8M, 3-day $19.5M\/Wk 1<\/li>\n
  4. The Long Walk (LG) 2,845 theaters, Fri $4.76M, 3-day $11M-$12.5M\/Wk 1<\/li>\n
  5. Toy Story (re) (Dis) 2,375 theaters, Fri $1.1M, 3-day $3.7M\/Wk 1<\/li>\n
  6. Weapons (NL) 2,310 (-974) theaters, Fri $850K (-42%), 3-day $2.9M (-44%), Total $147.6M\/Wk 6<\/li>\n
  7. Freakier Friday (Dis) 2,460 (-665) theaters, Fri $560K (-43%), 3-day $2.2M (-42%), Total $91.2M\/Wk 6<\/li>\n
  8. Hamilton (Dis) 1850 (+25) theaters, Fri $550K (-86%), 3-day $1.75M (-83%), Total $14.5M\/Wk 2<\/li>\n
  9. Spinal Tap II (BST) 1,920 theaters, Fri $820K, 3-day $1.55M\/Wk 1<\/li>\n
  10. Fantastic Four: First Steps (Dis) 1,650 (-735) theaters, Fri $350K (-46%), 3-day $1.47M (-49%), Total $272.5M\/Wk 8<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \n\tFRIDAY AFTERNOON:<\/strong> Sony\/Crunchyroll\u2019s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle<\/strong> is a beast with the town gonzo over box office forecasts. On the conservative side, it\u2019s looking like a $28<\/strong> million <\/strong>Friday (including $11.4M previews) and a $45M<\/strong> three-day cume at 3,315 theaters, which is a definite record opening for anime movie.<\/p>\n

    \n\tHowever, there are others who believe Friday is around $35M (including previews), with a $60M-plus weekend in store. <\/p>\n

    \n\tThe lower forecasts stem from the philosophy that the audience for this movie is niche-focused, limited to Demon Slayer devotees, and that no audience expansion is possible. While the last Demon Slayer opened to north of $21M and came out when theaters were reopening from the pandemic in the spring of 2021, Dragon Ball Super: Super Broly (which posted a similar opening), saw a -46% drop in its Saturday with $5.8M next to its $10.9M Friday. Marketing has been quite thrifty on this anime movie, on par with other Crunchyroll titles. That\u2019s the other amaze-amaze about this movie.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    \n\tConjuring: Last Rites <\/strong>from New Line\/Warner Bros, per estimates, is coming in at $29.7M<\/strong> at 3,802 locations, which is where we saw it. That would make it off 65% for a running 10-day total by Sunday of $134.6M<\/strong>, very close to topping the original movie\u2019s cume, which is the franchise\u2019s highest at $137.4M.<\/p>\n

    \n\tThird belongs to Focus Features\u2019 Downton Abbey:<\/a><\/strong> The Grand Finale<\/strong><\/a>, which has a shot at $20M but right now is at $19.5M <\/strong>in third at 3,694 sites. That is higher than the bow of 2022\u2019s previous chapter New Era after a $9.2M Friday (including $2.6M previews).<\/p>\n

    \n\tFourth is Lionsgate\u2019s The Long Walk<\/a><\/strong> at 2,815, looking at $11M-$13.5M<\/strong> after a $5M <\/strong>Friday. The movie, which largely stars a fresh-faced cast, was made for net $20M.<\/p>\n

    \n\tDisney\u2019s 30th anniversary rerelease of Pixar\u2019s Toy Story<\/strong> is eyeing $1M<\/strong> today for a $3.4M<\/strong> weekend in estimates at 2,375 theaters.<\/p>\n

    \n\tFRIDAY AM, AFTER EXCLUSIVE:<\/strong> Previews for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle<\/strong> came in at $11.4<\/strong> million<\/strong>. That\u2019s a record for an anime movie, beating 2022\u2019s Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero which did $4.3M in previews before a $10.9M Friday and $21.1M opening. By the way, that figure for Infinity Castle is for both Tuesday fan and Thursday night shows.<\/p>\n

    \n\tRelishMix counts 200 million followers in the Infinity Castle social media universe across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X. No surprise that chatter is positive given that RT audience score Thursday night, which continues to stand at 99%. \u201cHype centers on animation and Zenitsu\/Akaza moments; with comments exclaiming \u2018The animation is peak\u2019 and \u2018Zenitsu is LOCKED THE HELL IN\u2019 and \u2018Absolute mf cinema.\u2019 Event behavior is strong with fans exclaiming how they\u2019ve booked tickets at full capacity theaters, and calling the trailer \u2018godlike\u2019 as well as shoutouts to the LiSA and Aimer theme songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n\tFocus Features\u2019 Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale<\/strong> counted $2.6M<\/strong> in all previews from Wednesday and Thursday at 2,900 venues. Wednesday paid sneak previews alone on large-format screens were $1M<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    \n\tLionsgate\u2019s The Long Walk <\/strong>came in at $1.3M. Audience reaction on RT audience score is good at 86%.<\/p>\n

    \n\tAgain, this weekend is expected to be the best mid-September frame at the box office for all movies post-Covid, exceeding $100M and besting the $93.7M from the same frame a year ago. <\/p>\n

    New Line\u2019s The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/strong> posted $3.3M <\/strong>on Thursday, -23% for a first week of $104.9M.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n\tEXCLUSIVE: <\/strong>Sony\/Crunchyroll\u2019s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle<\/strong>, as we knew all along, is having a great night, with preview estimates at $10M <\/strong>at 2,800 sites, maybe a little more by sunrise. Showtimes, boosted by Imax and PLFs, began at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

    \n\tThat amount of cash is about equal to the pic\u2019s first five days of advance ticket sales, which by the way, repped a record for an anime movie.<\/a> <\/p>\n

    \n\tThat Thursday night figure is almost as much as Five Nights at Freddy\u2019s previews ($10.3M in 2023), it\u2019s $500K less than Oppenheimer\u2018s ($10.5M, 2023) and higher than last fall\u2019s Joker: Folie \u00e0 Deux ($7M). Not that those are any hard comps; it\u2019s just interesting to juxtapose the amount of cash this anime pic is racking up. Why are fans rushing to see this movie? Because it\u2019s the first in a trilogy. The record opening for anime movie belongs to Warner Bros\u2019 Pok\u00e9mon: The First Movie, which debuted to $31M in 1999.<\/p>\n

    \n\tAs we mentioned, Infinity Castle\u2018s weekend will be very frontloaded. Sony has forecast $35M for the opening of the Haruo Sotozaki-directed movie, while other sources believe the anime title\u2019s opening lies between $45M-$60M over Friday-Sunday. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes are 96% fresh from 27 reviews, while the audience score stands at 99%.<\/p>\n

    \t\t\t\t\t\t\"'The<\/p>\n

    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWarner Bros\/Everett Collection<\/p>\n

    \n\tAs we told you in the preview, it\u2019s going to be a deep bench of a weekend with New Line\u2019s The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/strong> banking potentially another $29M in its second frame, and newcomers Focus Features\u2019 Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale<\/strong> and Lionsgate\u2019s The Long Walk<\/strong> doing $15M-$20M and $10M, respectively. Last Rites crossed $100M on Wednesday and is bound to be the highest-grossing Conjuring movie ever at the domestic B.O., surpassing the 2013 original\u2019s $137.4M total.<\/p>\n

    \n\tAlso opening is Bleecker Street\u2019s Spinal Tap II: The End Continues <\/strong>with an expected $3M-$5M<\/strong>; critics currently 74% fresh on the Rob Reiner-directed sequel again starring Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer.<\/p>\n

    \t\t\t\t\t\t\"David<\/p>\n

    \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLionsgate via YouTube<\/p>\n

    \n\tThe Long Walk<\/strong>, based on the Stephen King tome about a group of teenage boys who compete in an annual contest where they must maintain a certain walking speed or get shot, is bound for a $1.2M-$1.5M<\/strong> Thursday. The Francis Lawrence-directed movie is at 94% fresh with critics.<\/p>\n

    \t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

    \n\tDownton Abbey 3<\/strong>, <\/strong>we\u2019re hearing, is north of $1M<\/strong> for the night, which is about what the previous installment, 2022\u2019s Downton Abbey: The New Era did, turning into a $7.3M Friday and $16M opening. The original movie during pre-Covid September 2019 minted a $2.1M Thursday night on its way to a $13.8M Friday and $31M opening. The threequel currently has the best reviews in the trilogy with 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and a near-best audience score of 96%, just behind New Era\u2019s 97%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SUNDAY AM: Sony hasn\u2019t reported their official figures yet, but we understand that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":222706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[90227,110054,171,68203,12758,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-226360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-infinity-castle","9":"tag-downton-abbey-the-grand-finale","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-the-conjuring-last-rites","12":"tag-the-long-walk","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115203157981486012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}