When Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train — better known as Demon Slayer: Mugen Train or just Demon Slayer: The Movie — opened in Japan last October, it raked in massive amounts of cash. It was the first movie in Japanese history to make over $100 million in just 10 days, and wound up earning over $300 million. The big question was how it would do overseas — historically, though they have an audience, anime films haven’t taken in a noticeable amount of money…until recently.
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has now been in US theaters for one month, and as of this weekend it has earned $43,956,487, making it the second biggest-earning anime film in US box office history. It’s also Funimation‘s largest opening three-day weekend for any film they’ve distributed.
The movie follows the events of Season One and the same protagonist, Tanjiro. The two-hour film covers an entire arc from the manga, an unusual move for adaptions of this type, but in this case the producers of the anime felt animating the Mugen Train story would cost too much as a TV season. Whether you’d prefer individual episodes or not, this option undeniably worked out for them.
“We are thrilled to be bringing Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train to theaters in North America,” said Shu Nishimoto, president of Aniplex of America. “The support from fans worldwide has truly been the driving force behind the series, and we can’t wait for everyone to experience the next chapter in Tanjiro’s journey as a Demon Slayer.”
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train opened in theaters one month ago, April 23, on 4DX and on IMAX screens in some areas. Both sub and dub versions are still playing. You can get tickets at funimation.com/demonslayermovie. For those who’d rather wait for the digital release, that’s coming June 22.
