The founder of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle studio Ufotable, Hikaru Kondo, was asked about the film’s budget in a rather fun part of an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
When quoted an estimated figure of $20 million, which has been widely circulated online, Kondo queried where that had come from and countered, “Unfortunately, I can’t comment on the budget. But if that rumored number were accurate, what do you think would be an appropriate budget for Part Two, given the success?“
When quoted a figure of $100-150 million for a sequel, Kondo joked that he was “very, very happy” to hear that and said, “I want to thank you very much for leaving that statement on the record for me” as he had it transcribed on his translation software. He appears to playfully put pressure on Aniplex producer Yuma Takahashi, seated next to him, perhaps to raise the next film’s budget. Kondo then invites Takahashi to join the conversation, who says, “I am a producer at Aniplex [Laughs.]. I’m in charge of business and marketing. So I’ll just say, that’s a huge budget! I can’t say anything official right now, but I will sincerely try my best.” Hopefully, outlets will remind Takahashi of that promise in future interviews.
Titles from Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, which serialized Demon Slayer, have frequently received canon movie adaptations rather than straight-to-TV anime in recent years, as producers recognize that fans will show up in force. In just ~5 years since Mugen Train debuted in theaters in October 2020, further films in the franchise, plus Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Haikyu!!, have grossed around $1.8 billion. That’s not to mention non-canon films from One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Spy x Family, taking the figure over $2 billion just this decade.
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Source: The Hollywood Reporter
© Koyoharu Gotoge / SHUEISHA / Aniplex / ufotable
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