The Mugen Train isn’t showing any signs of stopping at all, as the highly successful Demon Slayer movie has effectively beaten the box-office record of Makoto Shinkai’s phenomenal your name! Current ticket sales as of this weekend records the Demon Slayer movie’s ticket sales at 25.9 billion yen—now more than your name’s record 23.4 billion yen! This now makes Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train as the third highest-earning film of all time in Japan, achieving this amazing feat in just 39 days.
Current box office records now show that the only films above Demon Slayer are Titanic at the no. 2 spot (26.2 billion yen) and Spirited Away (30.8 billion yen) at the top. Given that the film is still going strong, we’ll all have to see if Demon Slayer manages to clinch the top spot from the beloved Ghibli classic.
The film opened in Japan last October 16, with North American releases set for early 2021.
Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train’s opening weekend is the highest ever in Japan for any film, earning over 4.6 billion yen (USD 43.8 million). It is also the fastest film in Japan to earn 10 billion, achieving this feat in just 10 days. The last movie that held this record was Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away in 2001, which breached the 10 billion mark 25 days from its release.
The manga’s story is described by Anime News Network as such:
“Since ancient times, rumors have abounded of man-eating demons lurking in the woods. Because of this, the local townsfolk never venture outside at night. Legend has it that a demon slayer also roams the night, hunting down these bloodthirsty demons. For young Tanjiro, these rumors will soon to become his harsh reality. Ever since the death of his father, Tanjiro has taken it upon himself to support his family. Although their lives may be hardened by tragedy, they’ve found happiness. But that ephemeral warmth is shattered one day when Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered and the lone survivor, his sister Nezuko, turned into a demon. To his surprise, however, Nezuko still shows signs of human emotion and thought. Thus begins Tanjiro’s request to fight demons and turn his sister human again.”
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is a shonen manga series written by Koyoharu Gotoge. It was first published in February 2016 in Weekly Shonen Jump and ended last May. The manga’s English license is currently held by Viz Media.
Source: Anime News Network