The Chainsaw Man Film Tops Domestic Cinema Earnings in Opening Weekend
Has Sony done it again? Following the triumph of the hit anime Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which earned in excess of $600 million worldwide, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc has surpassed the $100 million mark globally, hitting a worldwide gross of $108 million in its opening frame. The film beat out the thriller Black Phone 2 ($12.9M) in its sophomore frame in theaters, as well as the music documentary Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere featuring actor Jeremy Allen White ($9 million).
Notable American and Worldwide Performance
The work of director Tatsuya Yoshihara, the film is a straightforward follow-up of the initial season of Chainsaw Man. It earned $18.2 million in North America after a robust $5.2M Saturday and $4.5M Sunday take. Overseas, the MAPPA-produced movie added nearly $15 million across 46 international territories, pushing its worldwide total to $60.4 million via Sony (over $43 million international, $18.2 million domestic). The studio has not yet revealed its final earnings figure.
Parallels to Other Anime Hits
Specialist agency a leading anime marketing group previously spoke, comparing the movie's expected results to the popular film Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which grossed $34 million in the U.S. and Canada in 2022 and started with a similar $18M domestically. Reze Arc’s debut weekend matches that marker, while its hundred-and-eight-million-dollar worldwide total presently stands a bit short of the earlier film's over $166 million overall box office. Even if it doesn't seem possible the Reze Arc movie will earn the box office of smash success the enormous hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, this is still a significant success for Sony.
Marketing Strategies Boost Success
Along with its affiliate the anime streaming service Crunchyroll have successfully utilized community involvement to propel their supremacy at the anime box office. The Reze Arc marketing campaign kicked off at Anime Expo Los Angeles in July with a MAPPA presentation, special events, and Pochita-themed pictures, followed by a notable appearance at NYCC including exclusive clips, lotteries for fans, and more MAPPA sessions. Moreover, organizers held an special preview for fans for general audiences and popular figures too after the last day of the gathering.
Future Prospects
2025 is a major time for animated films, and for Sony, which has another feature-length anime premiering in 2025 in the film Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution in the month of November.