Key Points<\/h3>\n\n- \n\n
Japan’s dark anime fantasy Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle overtook The Conjuring: Last Rites at the box office with a $70 million U.S. premiere haul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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Totaling $450 million at the global box office so far, Infinity Castle has broken the record of the biggest anime premiere in American history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
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Next week’s contenders for box office glory include sports horror Him, collegiate dramedy Steve, and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Only one movie was powerful enough to vanquish The Conjuring franchise<\/a> once and for all.<\/p>\nDemon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle, a violent animated fantasy film that has been in theaters for weeks in Asian markets, finally premiered in the United States, where it easily surpassed last week’s big box office<\/a> winner, The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/a>. Infinity Castle opened to $70 million this weekend, far outpacing Last Rites’ $26.1 million week-two haul.<\/p>\nBased on the manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle is also known as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle \u2013 Part 1: Akaza Returns, as it’s the first in a planned trilogy of films set to conclude the epic, transmedia Demon Slayer franchise<\/a>. In total, that franchise currently includes a five-year manga cycle, a four-season television series, and several other original films and feature-length compilations.<\/p>\nWith this stunning opening take, Infinity Castle more than doubles the record set by the previous highest-grossing anime film opening in U.S. box office history \u2014 Pok\u00e9mon: The First Movie \u2013 Mewtwo Strikes Back, which earned $31 million in 1999 (around $59.5 million adjusted for inflation).<\/p>\n
![\"Giles](\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/SK0R7jTSFs0LJnFYuyfmCA--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/entertainment_weekly_785\/f3a4ce036f6ef1707eb48019620e6dbc\"\/)
<\/span><\/div>\n\nGiles Keyte\/Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n
Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’<\/p><\/div>\n
Globally, Infinity Castle’s success is even more striking. The film took in $148 million this weekend after opening not just in the U.S., but in nearly 80 countries across the Middle East, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and beyond. The weekend’s worldwide haul brings its cumulative global gross thus far to $450 million \u2014 another feather in the cap for Sony, which released the film via its anime distribution banner Crunchyroll.<\/p>\n
Sign up for\u00a0Entertainment Weekly’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe horrifying conclusion to the nine-film Conjuring universe (11 if you count 2016’s Wolves at the Door and 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona) dropped 69 percent from its $83 million premiere<\/a> last week. But that figure set a franchise record \u2014 highest-ever premiere gross \u2014 and given the tendency of the films kickstarted by 2013’s The Conjuring to endure in theaters long after their opens, Last Rites is sure to keep adding to its coffers.<\/p>\nLast Rites earned an impressive $86.6 million at the global box office this weekend, bringing its total there to $332.8 million, and its two-week domestic haul to $131 million \u2014 already higher than every film in the franchise besides The Conjuring.<\/p>\n
The rest of the picture at the domestic box office this week was a bit unusual, consisting of a high number of both premieres, re-releases, and special releases.<\/p>\n
Japan’s dark anime fantasy Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle overtook The Conjuring: Last Rites at the box office with a $70 million U.S. premiere haul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Totaling $450 million at the global box office so far, Infinity Castle has broken the record of the biggest anime premiere in American history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Next week’s contenders for box office glory include sports horror Him, collegiate dramedy Steve, and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Only one movie was powerful enough to vanquish The Conjuring franchise<\/a> once and for all.<\/p>\n Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle, a violent animated fantasy film that has been in theaters for weeks in Asian markets, finally premiered in the United States, where it easily surpassed last week’s big box office<\/a> winner, The Conjuring: Last Rites<\/a>. Infinity Castle opened to $70 million this weekend, far outpacing Last Rites’ $26.1 million week-two haul.<\/p>\n Based on the manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle is also known as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba \u2013 The Movie: Infinity Castle \u2013 Part 1: Akaza Returns, as it’s the first in a planned trilogy of films set to conclude the epic, transmedia Demon Slayer franchise<\/a>. In total, that franchise currently includes a five-year manga cycle, a four-season television series, and several other original films and feature-length compilations.<\/p>\n With this stunning opening take, Infinity Castle more than doubles the record set by the previous highest-grossing anime film opening in U.S. box office history \u2014 Pok\u00e9mon: The First Movie \u2013 Mewtwo Strikes Back, which earned $31 million in 1999 (around $59.5 million adjusted for inflation).<\/p>\n Giles Keyte\/Warner Bros. Pictures<\/p>\n Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’<\/p><\/div>\n Globally, Infinity Castle’s success is even more striking. The film took in $148 million this weekend after opening not just in the U.S., but in nearly 80 countries across the Middle East, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and beyond. The weekend’s worldwide haul brings its cumulative global gross thus far to $450 million \u2014 another feather in the cap for Sony, which released the film via its anime distribution banner Crunchyroll.<\/p>\n Sign up for\u00a0Entertainment Weekly’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n The horrifying conclusion to the nine-film Conjuring universe (11 if you count 2016’s Wolves at the Door and 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona) dropped 69 percent from its $83 million premiere<\/a> last week. But that figure set a franchise record \u2014 highest-ever premiere gross \u2014 and given the tendency of the films kickstarted by 2013’s The Conjuring to endure in theaters long after their opens, Last Rites is sure to keep adding to its coffers.<\/p>\n Last Rites earned an impressive $86.6 million at the global box office this weekend, bringing its total there to $332.8 million, and its two-week domestic haul to $131 million \u2014 already higher than every film in the franchise besides The Conjuring.<\/p>\n The rest of the picture at the domestic box office this week was a bit unusual, consisting of a high number of both premieres, re-releases, and special releases.<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n