Well folks, the wait is almost over. This Friday, after months of hype and
anticipation, Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba): The Movie-Infinity Castle (Part
1-Akuza Returns) makes landfall in the US.
Demon Slayer has become one of the biggest and most commercially
successful Anime hits worldwide and fans have been eagerly awaiting the launch
of this new, non preview film for well over a year since the end of the Hashira
Training Arc. In fact, I dare say the anticipation
is so high that it’s possible the first chapter of the Demon Slayer Finale
could do some serious business at the US Box Office this weekend…maybe even
secure the #1 spot? It’s not impossible,
in fact it has been done before. How do
I think this is a real possibility? Well
that’s what we’re looking at on Todays Top 5 Wednesday as I count down my Top 5
Reasons Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (Part 1) Could Top the US Box Office This
Weekend.
Ok, hear me out on this one.
A couple weeks back, Netflix did exclusive
weekend screenings of the newly launched Sing Along Version of their megahit Kpop
Demon Hunters…and it went on to top the US Box Office that weekend, briefly dethroning
2025’s sleeper horror hit Weapons.
That
was only based on a couple of possibly all sold out screenings but it also
proves how huge of a phenomenon Kpop Demon Hunters continues to be.
I bring this up because if a near universally
beloved Animated film could reach #1 Box Office status even for a weekend with
few screenings, who’s to say Demon Slayer cant do the same, especially with
more viewings in multiple languages throughout the day?
#4-Minimal Competition
September is usually a quieter month for the movie
business.
The Summer Blockbuster Season
is done and it’s kind of a chill period.
It’s the perfect time for Demon Slayer to be released because as of
right now, it’s biggest competition is The Conjuring: Last Rites which is in it’s
second week of release after an impressive opening weekend of its own.
The only major new release I can think of is
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and while I do plan on seeing that (yes I’m a
Downton fan), I’m not sure how big the audience for Downton Abbey still is
years after the series ended while Demon Slayer is still very much on fire.
Case in point…
#3-It’s Still Big in Japan (and everywhere else too
for that matter)
The US is relatively late to the party as Demon Slayer
fans throughout the world have been able to enjoy Infinity Castle Part 1 since mid
July and the numbers and fan reactions speak for themselves.
The movie has set box office records in numerous
countries with a current worldwide total of over $295 Million.
In Japan alone it’s currently the highest
grossing film of the year which crazy good for the franchise that has been such
a beloved hit all across the globe.
Just
imagine the boon the US box office could do for Infinity Castle even for a few
weeks.
Heck I dare say it could end up
becoming one of the highest grossing films of 2025 Worldwide…which isnt something
new to Demon Slayer actually…
#2-Proven Commodity
Let’s face it, anytime a Demon Slayer movie has been
announced, butts are guaranteed to be in seats.
Demon Slayer just looks freaking incredible on a big screen, whether it’s
an original or a preview compilation film.
Back during the 2020 Pandemic, the Mugen Train movie braved the odds to
become the Highest Grossing Movie that year with over $507 Million (a first for
any Anime film ever btw).
Part of that
gross comes from when it was released in the US in April 2021, where it did good
numbers and even took the #1 spot in it’s second week after coming in second
behind Mortal Kombat in it’s debut.
Not
only that but the aforementioned Preview/Compilation films for the Hidden
Swordsmith Village and Hashira Training Arcs have both proven financially
successful enough to debut in the US Top 10 upon their theatrical
releases.
This is a franchise that pulls
in fans and cash and I cant see why that wont be any different this weekend.
#1-The Beginning of the End
The big sell point of this latest Demon Slayer flick is
that it is The Beginning of the End for the entire saga.
Announced right after the Hashira Training
Arc finale, Ufotable revealed that the Infinity Castle Saga would be released
as a trilogy of films across an unspecified period of time.
It’s an interesting tactic for sure but I
guess if it worked for Mugen Train, it can work here in some way.
In any case, this is the start of the final battle
for Tanjiro and his friends against Muzan and it’s on Muzan’s home turf no
less.
Who lives?
Who dies?
And just how is Ufotable gonna top the spectacular action sequences this
show has given us already?
Guess we’ll
have to just go see Infinity Castle Part 1 this weekend to see how they kick
off this final act.
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