Demon Slayer: a Japanese tidal wave on the US box office

The infinite fortress marks the biggest start of all time for an anime in the country of Uncle Sam.

New record in the United States!

Demon Slayer: the infinite fortressdistributed by Crunchyroll and Sony, makes a monumental launch beyond $ 70 million for its first weekend.

A score that not only signs the biggest start of 2025 to date for the Sony studio, but established a new historic record for an American box office anime. So far, the record had been held by Pokémon, the film (1999), which had opened at $ 31 million, followed by Demon Slayer: The Infinite Train (2021) and its $ 21 million.

Demon Slayer: the infinite fortress – exit In France this Wednesday – crushes the previous scores, especially since the buzz could go beyond the fan base (which rushed in theaters from the first sessions). It also exceeds recent Sony blockbusters: 28 years later ($ 30 million in 2025), Venom: The Last Dance ($ 51 million), or Boys: golden ride die ($ 56.5 million). The last real triumph of the studio remained Spider-man: across the spider-verseopened at $ 120.6 million in June 2023.

In second position, we find the cardboard of the past week. Conjuring: judgment time (New Line), operated in 3,802 cinemas, is experiencing a heavy fall in attendance in the second week (-69 %), but remains solid with $ 26 million this weekend, for a cumulation of 131 million in ten days. The film has largely spent the $ 300 million in world revenue and should soon become the biggest success in the saga (ahead The nun which had totaled 366 million in 2018).

On the podium, Downton Abbey III: The Grand Final Starts well with $ 18 million in revenues in the USA, and exceeds the opening of the previous title of the saga across the Atlantic, Downton Abbey 2: A new era ($ 16 million in 2023).

The little weekend flop is Walking (The Long Walk) Lionsgate that caps in fourth place with $ 12 million in revenue in the USA, to start. The film, adapted from Stephen King, certainly suffered from the success of Demon Slayer (it’s the same audience) and is doing less well than the previous adaptations of the master of horror, namely The Monkey ($ 14 million this year) and Doctor Sleep ($ 14.1 million in 2019). The film will be released in France on October 1.

Budgeted at 20 million net, Walking struggling to mobilize, despite an evocative slogan (“The Task is simple: walk or die”), the presence of Francis Lawrence (Hunger Games) to the realization and a script signed JT Mollner. The cast made up of young faces and the anti-militarist tone perceived in the promo have obviously did not appeal to America.