Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (or Kimetsu no Yaiba: Mugen Ressha-Hen) is currently dominating the U.S. box office charts, after its release in North American cinemas on April 23 of this year. As of this past weekend (April 30-May 2), the film has earned $6.4 million, narrowly beating the new Mortal Kombat film which garnered $6.2 million.
Demon Slayer is the second-ever Japanese film to rank #1 at the weekend box office in the U.S. The first film to do so was Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, released in 1998.
During its box office run Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has become one of the highest-grossing anime films in the United States. It boasts an estimated revenue of US$34,118,776 from this past weekend alone and US$21,144,800 on its opening weekend.
It has surpassed films such as Dragon Ball Super: Broly and is only overtaken by Pokemon: The First Movie and Pokemon: The Movie 2000. The film has also performed exceptionally well globally, topping box office charts in countries like Australia and South Korea.
Reception in Japan
Perhaps most notable is the film’s performance in its home country; Japan. It began screening in Japan on October 16, 2020, and broke global box office records by having the highest-grossing opening for that weekend. The film cleared the $100 million milestone in just ten days – a Japanese record.
Demon Slayer remained at the top of Japanese box office charts for 12 weeks in a row, only dropping to #2 during its 13th weekend. It has since gone on to dethrone Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed film Spirited Away as the highest-earning film in Japanese box office history. It has also surpassed it as the highest-earning Japanese film globally.
Digital release
In North America, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was released on over 1600 screens in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub. The film will be released digitally on June 22, and available on platforms such as Apple TV, Microsoft Store, Google Play, PlayStation Store, and Amazon. What’s more, the film is already available for pre-order on these platforms.
After the release of the TV anime, the show quickly became one of the most popular anime of 2019, even going on to win Anime of the Year at the 2020 Crunchyroll Anime Awards, as well as two other awards.
Synopsis
In case you don’t know what Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is about, you can read the synopsis below:
Tanjiro and the group have completed their rehabilitation training at the Butterfly Mansion, and they arrive to their next mission on the “Mugen Train”, where over 40 people have disappeared in a very short period of time. Tanjiro and Nezuko, along with Zenitsu and Inosuke, join one of the most powerful swordsmen within the Demon Slayer Corps, Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, to face the demon aboard the “Mugen Train” on track to despair.
(Official website)
Source: Funimation Facebook
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