Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$147,907,505 | +16.2% Last Week / +36.7% Weekend 37, 2024
In yet another example of an unexpected hit disrupting the market, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle brought in $70M for the biggest anime opening ever, proving there’s a huge emerging audience for the sub-genre. The Conjuring: Last Rites had a steep drop but still performed very well at $26.1M, while Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale delivered $18.1M. Several repertory titles played a good role in rounding out the market, with our first year-over-year win in ages as the overall box office beat out this frame in 2024 when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice remained atop its sophomore frame.
- Top Title: Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Sony) | $70M / 3,315 Screens / $21,116 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Sony) | $70M / 3,315 Screens / $21,116 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: The History of Sound (Mubi) | $85.78K / 4 Screens / $21,447 PSA | Week 1
Highlights From the Weekend
1. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
Sony/Crunchyroll | NEW
$70M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $386.29M Global Total
Sony and Crunchyroll’s English dub of Japan’s monster hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Kimetsu no Yaiba) took in an estimated $70M on 3,315 screens for a $21,116 Per Screen Average. Produced by Toho, the new entry in the Demon Slayer franchise trampled over the lifetime total of previous high-grosser Demon Slayer: Mugen Train ($50.27M) as well as the previous record anime opener Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back ($31M debut). It should crush the latter’s $85.7M domestic total soon to become the biggest domestic anime title of all-time.
After doing stellar business in Asia, the new Demon Slayer landed at the upper end of our projection panel’s predictions. That’s also the biggest animated opening of 2025, beating Dog Man‘s $36M, and Sony’s biggest opening in all of 2025. Demon Slayer opened just $400k shy of becoming Sony’s top-grossing domestic title to date in 2025, sitting just below the $70.4M North American cume of 28 Years Later. Critical and audience reactions on Rotten Tomatoes were in sync at 97% and 98%, respectively, with an “A” CinemaScore and 5 stars from PostTrak.
The film made $13M on IMAX screens alone, representing 19% of the title’s box office ($20M on IMAX for the global weekend, with a running total of $58.5M in the format). The Demon Slayer franchise as a whole surpassed the $1B mark this weekend as well.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $11.4M in Thursday previews…
- Friday – $33M
- Saturday – $21.6M
- Sunday – $15.4M
Overseas Demon Slayer: Infinity Train made an additional $62.1M on 14,400+ screens in 58 markets, bringing the weekend total to $132.1M and the global take to $386.29M. It could still take a couple weeks to surpass Mugen Train‘s $506.47M global total, but it will most likely get there. The Top 3 territories this frame were Mexico ($9.8M), India ($5.2M), and the UK ($4.6M), with Hong Kong as the top holdover market ($11.7M).
3. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Focus Features | NEW
$18.1M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $30.38M Global Total
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Focus Features’ third feature entry in the period soap opera TV/movie franchise, opened below expectations with $18.1M from 3,694 screens for a $4,900 PSA. That’s more in line with the previous film A New Era‘s opening ($16M) than the original movie ($31M), indicating a box office ceiling for this 15-year-old brand.
As a counter-programming option The Grand Finale could not have been more distinct from Demon Slayer or Conjuring, plus 91% from critics and 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes as well as an “A” CinemaScore and 92% from PostTrak. Audiences were 72% female, with 95% over the age of 25 and 57% over 55, the latter certainly being an underserved segment.
Here’s how the 3-Day turned out, including $2.6M from Thursday previews…
- Friday – $8.85M
- Saturday – $5.29M
- Sunday – $3.96M
Here’s how demographics looked…
- 73% White
- 13% Latino
- 4% Black
- 6% Asian
- 4% Native American / Other
Overseas the new Downton Abbey opened in 31 markets for a $12.28M from 3,695 locations (similar to domestic), taking the global total to $30.38M. The biggest territory was the UK ($6.25), where the TV show originated from, so no surprises there.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Opening Weekend
Top Ten Overseas Markets
UK & Ireland | $6,255
France | $1,351
Australia | $1,152
Netherlands | $944
Italy | $532
Finland | $479
Sweden | $358
New Zealand | $266
Belgium | $228
Switzerland | $123
Other Notable Performances
After the third-best ever domestic opening for a horror picture ($84M), The Conjuring: Last Rites took a hellish -69% dive in its sophomore frame to bring in $26.1M from 3,802 screens for a $6,865 PSA. That was enough to open significantly ahead of Downton Abbey to secure the #2 spot, but clearly Demon Slayer took a big bite of the box office pie. This weekend’s figure still represents the biggest second frame in the franchise’s history. It is also on par with the opening weekend of The Curse of La Llorona ($26.3M) and ahead of the debuts of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It ($24.1M) and Annabelle Comes Home ($20.26M). Domestic total now stands at $131.1M, ahead of every Conjuring movie except the first ($137.4M), while global stands at $332.9M, ahead of all but The Nun ($366M). In terms of the horror genre in 2025, the new Conjuring has surpassed the global gross of all titles except Sinners ($366.67M), which it will certainly surpass by next week.
Lionsgate’s big screen version of Stephen King’s bleak dystopian novel The Long Walk opened to expectations at $11.5M from 2,845 locations for a $4,042 PSA. With the 1979 book a precursor to youth elimination franchises like Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, the film was directed by the latter IP’s Francis Lawrence but had little star power, with Licorice Pizza‘s Cooper Hoffman in the lead and Star Wars’ Mark Hamill arguably the biggest name. Reviews hit 90% on RT, with an 86% audience score and a “B” CinemaScore, all decent for a downer in the They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?-vein.
Over four decades after Rob Reiner’s Spinal Tap became a cult classic, the sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues did puppet show numbers with $1.67M on 1920 screens for an $872 PSA. Even though this one featured Reiner back behind the camera with the three original leads in tow for more heavy metal antics, the fact that boutique distributor Bleecker Street was doing the honors instead of a major studio did not bode well. Reiner hasn’t had a hit since 2007’s The Bucket List, but the Tap sequel will also make less than the cast’s previous mockumentary comedies like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, which both grossed in the high-teens. RT critical reviews were mezzo mezzo at 67%, yet audiences that went embraced it with 90% and an “A-” CinemaScore. Like the original film, ancillary revenue from soundtrack and home video should still be huge on this one.
An interesting footnote this week is Disney (who made $3.5M with a Toy Story re-release at #5) appears to be keeping their summer hit Lilo & Stitch in theaters (17 frames and counting) as the title is within striking distance ($233,358) from surpassing A Minecraft Movie as the #1 domestic grosser of 2025. Meanwhile, Disney partnered with Fathom for a 60th anniversary 4K restoration of The Sound of Music, which made $1.48M in 1178 theaters to take the #10 spot.
Next Weekend
With next week’s Him Universal and producer Jordan Peele are delivering that rarest of animals: a sports-themed horror movie. Reviews are currently embargoed, but the genre couldn’t be hotter right now and a gory football movie could be just what the doctor ordered. Sony offers counter-programming with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, the new romantic fantasy from After Yang’s director Kogonada starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell.
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 37 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $147,907,505 | (+36.7% vs 2024)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Infi… | $70,000,000 | 3,315 | $21,116 | 70,000,000 | 1 | Sony Pictures | ||
| The Conjuring: Last Rites | $26,100,000 | -69% | 3,802 | n/c | $6,865 | 131,053,000 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale | $18,100,000 | 3,694 | $4,900 | 18,100,000 | 1 | Focus Features | ||
| The Long Walk | $11,500,000 | 2,845 | $4,042 | 11,500,000 | 1 | Lionsgate | ||
| Toy Story | $3,500,000 | 2,375 | $1,474 | 196,023,233 | 1,556 | Walt Disney | ||
| Weapons | $2,725,000 | -48% | 2,310 | -974 | $1,180 | 147,452,000 | 6 | Warner Bros. |
| Hamilton | $2,200,000 | -78% | 1,850 | 25 | $1,189 | 14,957,531 | 2 | Walt Disney |
| Freakier Friday | $2,100,000 | -46% | 2,460 | -665 | $854 | 91,097,850 | 6 | Walt Disney |
| Spinal Tap II: The End Continues | $1,674,926 | 1,920 | $872 | 1,674,926 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| The Sound of Music | $1,486,231 | 1,178 | $1,262 | 164,700,517 | 3,159 | 20th Century… | ||
| The Fantastic Four: First Steps | $1,400,000 | -51% | 1,650 | -735 | $848 | 272,515,605 | 8 | Walt Disney |
| The Bad Guys 2 | $1,150,000 | -54% | 1,603 | -999 | $717 | 79,352,000 | 7 | Universal |
| Caught Stealing | $1,150,000 | -64% | 1,675 | -1,903 | $687 | 17,706,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| Light of the World | $950,000 | -60% | 1,540 | -535 | $617 | 4,011,119 | 2 | Salvation Po… |
| The Roses | $850,000 | -69% | 1,305 | -1,395 | $651 | 14,364,433 | 3 | Searchlight … |
| The Baltimorons | $300,000 | 663% | 411 | 407 | $730 | 388,769 | 2 | IFC Entertai… |
| Superman | $290,000 | -70% | 394 | -793 | $736 | 353,884,000 | 10 | Warner Bros. |
| Jurassic World Rebirth | $200,000 | -62% | 303 | -516 | $660 | 339,418,000 | 11 | Universal |
| F1: The Movie | $165,000 | -64% | 143 | -251 | $1,154 | 189,297,000 | 12 | Warner Bros. |
| Splitsville | $140,800 | -82% | 336 | -464 | $419 | 1,745,252 | 4 | Neon |
| The Naked Gun | $119,000 | -78% | 209 | -722 | $569 | 52,603,000 | 7 | Paramount Pi… |
| The History of Sound | $85,786 | 4 | $21,447 | 85,786 | 1 | MUBI | ||
| Lilo & Stitch | $75,000 | -16% | 100 | -230 | $750 | 423,715,837 | 17 | Walt Disney |
| Jaws | $50,000 | -95% | 175 | -1,925 | $286 | 286,462,000 | 2,622 | Universal |
| Nobody 2 | $39,000 | -88% | 129 | -820 | $302 | 21,591,000 | 5 | Universal |
| Women in Christ | $16,126 | 13 | $1,240 | 16,126 | 1 | Purdie Distr… | ||
| CatVideoFest 2025 | $14,185 | -71% | 6 | -10 | $2,364 | 982,820 | 7 | Oscilloscope… |
| Bang Bang | $12,000 | 4 | $3,000 | 12,000 | 1 | Vertigo Rele… |
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