NEED TO KNOW
- Japanese anime film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is in theaters now
- As of mid-October, it’s become the highest-grossing international film ever in the U.S., breaking the record previously held by 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Infinity Castle also became the highest-grossing anime film in North America, biggest U.S. opening of an anime film, and fifth-highest-grossing film of 2025 so far
A new, record-breaking movie is proof that anime is continuing its Hollywood takeover.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, in theaters now, became the highest-grossing international film ever in the U.S. this past weekend after its stateside theatrical debut from Sony’s Crunchyroll on Sept. 12.
That means the action-packed anime sequel took the long-held record from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which took the U.S. by storm back in 2000 following its success in China.
That Oscar-winning martial arts fantasy film, starring Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi, totaled $128.5 million domestically, while Infinity Castle has earned $128.6 million and counting, per estimates from Box Office Mojo.
As if that weren’t enough, the movie has now passed such hits as Your Name, Spirited Away and Suzume to become history’s highest-grossing anime film in North America. And by earning an estimated $70 million in its first weekend, Infinity Castle broke the record for biggest U.S. opening of an anime film after 1999’s Pokémon: The First Movie, per The Express Tribune.
The Haruo Sotozaki-directed hit, planned as the first in a trilogy from animation studio Ufotable, follows four seasons of a hit Japanese TV show adapted from Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Among the movie’s voice actors in its English dub are Channing Tatum, Zach Aguilar, Abby Trott and Rebecca Wang.
In Japan, Infinity Castle set additional records, becoming the fastest film to earn over 10 billion yen — breaking the previous record set by its 2020 prequel Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train. It hit that milestone within eight days of its July 18 release.
Worldwide, Infinity Castle is the fifth-highest-grossing film of the calendar year 2025 so far. Still going strong in theaters, the movie could climb that list’s ranks: It trails Jurassic World Rebirth in fourth place, A Minecraft Movie in third, the live-action Lilo & Stitch in second and Ne Zha 2 in first.
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The latter title further shows moviegoing audiences’ appetite for international animated films. Hailing from China, the action-fantasy follow-up to 2019’s Ne Zha released an English-language dub in U.S. theaters in August with Yeoh, Vincent Rodriguez III and William Utay among the voice cast.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle is in theaters now.
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