The Sony-owned Crunchyroll release shattered expectations with a mighty $70 million debut in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore. That haul marks the biggest domestic opening ever for an anime film, surpassing Pokémon: The First Movie, which opened with $31 million in 1999.
The film extended its meteoric run, scoring the biggest anime opening of all time with a $132.1 million weekend, according to Comscore. Crunchyroll and Sony rolled it out across North America and 49 international markets, pushing the global total to $177.8 million.
"This performance by this particular film shows the unpredictability of the box office," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.
"If we were sitting here, let's say a month or even a couple of weeks ago, would we be thinking, 'Wow, a Japanese anime film would be number one at the box office, overperform and bring in $70 million?' If you predicted that, kudos to you."
The latest movie is the first in a three-film trilogy that brings the hit Shonen saga to its climactic showdown. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a kind-hearted boy who takes up swordsmanship after his family is slaughtered and his sister, Nezuko, is turned into a demon. Together, they fight a supernatural underworld of monstrous foes while clinging to what's left of their humanity.
The Infinity Castle opener hails from renowned studio Ufotable, whose lavish visuals and breakneck fight sequences have helped make the franchise a global sensation and juggernaut.
The film's domination also points to a September rebound after a sluggish August. Warner Bros.' The Conjuring: Last Rites, which opened to $83 million last weekend, slipped to second with $26 million.
The horror sequel has now scared up $131 million domestically.
"This shows that two months of down trending box office can be totally reversed over the course of a couple of weekends," Dergarabedian said.
Focus Features' Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opened in third with $18.1 million. Set in the 1930s, the film finds Lady Mary embroiled in a public scandal as the Crawleys confront financial strain and the looming threat of social disgrace.
In fourth place, Lionsgate's The Long Walk debuted with $11.5 million. It was directed by Francis Lawrence, the adaptation of Stephen King's first-written novel is a thriller that asks a chilling question: "How far would you go to survive?"
