#Demon Slayer: Mugen Trains Tops Weekends in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Surpasses US$400 Million Worldwide

(via Demon Slayer: Mugen Train Official website)

No box office around the world can withstand the might that is Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train, with the film dominating three international box offices last weekend, including coming number one in South Korea for the first time since the film was released in January. In Australia, Mugen Train has had the biggest opening weekend for an anime film down under since Pokémon: The First Movie in 1999.

In the film’s home country of Japan, as of February 28, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has grossed more than 38.1 billion yen (US$356.73 million) on the back of 27.68 million tickets sold. Unlike normal film runs, Mugen Train actually increased its box office revenue by approximately 33%, bringing in approximately 400 million yen compared to last week’s approximate 300 million yen. This is likely thanks to the Emperor’s Birthday holiday on Tuesday, which would have also seen many take the day off work and school on Monday for a 4-day weekend.

With the State of Emergency lifting in the majority of Japan, it’ll become much easier for people to go to the theater, so it’ll be interesting to see how well Demon Slayer fares in the new environment. The film came second on the box office chart behind Hanataba mitai na Koi wo Shita.

Internationally, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train has topped US$400.8 million (42.82 billion yen) thanks to number one weekends in South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, the latter two of which was the films opening weekend. In South Korea, Demon Slayer was also the number one film over the last week in box office revenue, but not ticket sales, coming in second to South Korean film MISSION: POSSIBLE. As of March 1 in South Korea, Mugen Train has made US$7,900,701 on the back of 925,734 tickets sold.

In Mugen Train‘s first weekend in Australia and New Zealand (films release on Thursday in the region), the Ufotable-produced came in at number one, and at least in Australia, is the biggest opening weekend for an anime film since Pokémon: The First Movie, surpassing Dragon Ball Super: Broly‘s AU$1.5 million (US$1.01 million) opening weekend in January 2020. Demon Slayer, as of February 28, has brought in in AU$1,863,234 (US$1,444,537). Broly eventually grossed around AU$2 million (US$1.3 million) in Australia. Demon Slayer will likely surpass Broly sooner than later. 

Madman Entertainment, a Funimation company, is releasing Demon Slayer: Mugen Train in both Australia and New Zealand. Madman Anime Group managing director Tim Anderson spoke about the success of the film, saying, “Demon Slayer​ has cemented itself as one of the all-time greats and these results speak to reach beyond what we consider our traditional ‘anime core’. Demon Slayer is at the forefront of anime’s steady march into mainstream consciousness and is a great jumping-on point for those keen to discover the medium.”

In New Zealand, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train brought in a more subdued NZ$341,874 (US$247,673) compared to its neighboring nation, but still topping the charts on the dual island nation. This is despite the largest city in the country, Auckland, closing its cinemas on Sunday onwards due to a new COVID-19 spike.

Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train opened in Japanese cinemas on October 16 and had the best opening weekend in Japanese cinema history, becoming the highest-grossing film in Japanese theaters ever, and currently the second highest-grossing anime film and Japanese film worldwide. You can read our review of the film here. In the United States, a limited one-week Oscar-qualifying showing of Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is being held at one cinema in Miami from February 26.

The Ufotable-produced anime film continues to adapt the manga series by Koyoharu Gotouge, which saw a TV anime series adaptation in 2019. The Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba TV anime series streamed on Crunchyroll as it aired. The second season of the TV anime series, subtitled “Entertainment District arc”, will premiere sometime in 2021 on Japanese TV.

Sources: Mantan Web, KoreaFilm, Numero (1, 2), Madman Press Release

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.