Demon Slayer just changed the entire conversation around box office opening weekends and the kinds of movies we see get wide releases in movie theaters. The anime feature film raked in $70 million over the weekend, easily dethroning The Conjuring: Last Rites from the number one spot. A little stat I don’t want to elaborate on too much but find fascinating: 55% of that audience chose screenings that were subtitled and presented with the original Japanese language track. That’s just cool to know the kids are cool with non-English flicks and reading subtitles!
But, that’s not the real conversation we need to have about Demon Slayer doing gangbusters at the box office. Between this enormous success and the recent blowout we saw from KPop Demon Hunters, it’s clear that the mega-million blockbuster spectacle movies are not what drive young people to get their asses into a movie theater. Sure, there will always be a place for them, but we now have cultural proof that they don’t need to be the driving force behind wanting to go see a movie in a movie theater.
So, what is the driving force we can see from these movies and their box office triumphs? Community.
Loving Something Feels Better Together
Demon Slayer and KPop Demon Hunters were two properties that already had established fanbases. As such, they decided to put their movies into theaters so that fans could conglomerate and enjoy this thing they love together. People want to share their passions and enjoyment of art with other people. It’s a huge part of our human societal connectivity and a genuine psychological tool for empathy.
And the movie theater experience is a place people want to feel that communal connection. We want to feel seen by a sea of strangers in which we also see ourselves. That is especially true for children and young people who are still trying to figure out who they are. It’s why I can understand the specificity of properties like Demon Slayer and KPop Demon Hunters doing such astronomical numbers at the box office because it’s an offering for young folks to potentially find more people like them.
And that’s not what the blockbuster model is really about.
Pleasing As Many People As Possible For Too Much Money
The blockbuster model has always tried to snag some nebulous idea of as wide an audience as possible in an effort to create universally understood thrill rides that can be understood and embraced the world round. That means spending enormous amounts of cash on ever-evolving visual effects and practical productions. More and more, it’s getting harder and harder for mega-budget productions to recoup their spendings.
So, when Demon Slayer shows up at the box office and nabs an opening of $70 million, you can bet the bean counters in Hollywood are wondering how to take advantage of this kind of return on investment. Is it more worth their dime to produce anime features at a far reduced cost compared to, say, another MCU entry? Is this maybe a better way to start taking movie theaters as a cultural hub? Not in the megaplex biggadome Event Cinema Only mold, but in a way that actually responds to why young audiences want to congregate.
You can bet some kind of conversation over the Demon Slayer box office is happening in the vaped-out producer halls of Hollywood. They don’t see a winner they can’t exploit into the grave and leave it alone. Expect the 2026 box office to start having a stronger anime presence than expected.
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