©Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable
The Box Office Mojo and The Numbers websites reported that Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai, the first film in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle trilogy, has earned US$70,611,098 in its opening weekend at #1 at the U.S. box office. Besides breaking the record for the biggest opening weekend for an anime film in the U.S. — unadjusted for inflation, it also broke the same record even when adjusted for inflation by two different measures.
The 1999 anime film Pokémon: The First Movie (Pocket Monsters: Mewtwo Strikes Back) previously held the biggest opening weekend record at US$31 million. (The film opened on a Wednesday, two days before the three-day weekend box office frame.) US$31 million in November 1999 is about equivalent to US$60 million in August 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate.
The Numbers website also calculated that the inflation rate for just U.S. film ticket prices was steeper that the overall CPI rate, since the average ticket price rose from US$5.08 in 1999 to about US$11.50 now. When adjusted for this steeper inflation rate for U.S. tickets prices, Pokémon: The First Movie‘s US$31 million opening in the U.S. is about equivalent to US$70.2 million now.
The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai film earned US$32,984,325 on Friday (including US$11.4 million in Thursday preview screenings), US$21,610,856 on Saturday, and US$16,015,917 on Sunday, in 3,315 locations in the U.S.
In comparison, Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train earned US$9.5 million on its first day at the U.S. box office, and earned US$22,515,000 in 3,073 theaters in its opening weekend in 2021. The film became the anime film with the second biggest U.S. opening weekend at the time, but has now been pushed down to third.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – Akaza Sairai has also surpassed the 2022 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero anime film’s combined preview and opening day earnings record for an anime film of US$10 million.
Crunchyroll, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Aniplex began screening the first film in theaters, including IMAX and other premium large screen formats, in the United States and Canada on Friday. The film is screening in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub.
The English dub for the film has cast actor Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street) as Keizo and Rebecca Wang as Koyuki.
The first film opened in Japan on July 18. The film is playing on 443 screens (a franchise record) throughout Japan, including IMAX screenings. Outside Japan, Aniplex aims for the new film to play in over 150 countries and regions, which is wider than the franchise‘s previous world tour of over 145 countries and regions.
The film is the fastest film in Japan to reach 30 billion yen (about US$203 million), reaching the milestone in 46 days. Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train held the previous record, reaching the milestone in 59 days.
The film has surpassed Titanic to become the #3 highest-earning film of all time in Japan. The film is likely to surpass Spirited Away in Japan in the coming days.
Sources: Box Office Mojo (link 2), The Numbers, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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