The Chainsaw Man Film Leads the U.S. Box Office in Opening Weekend
Has Sony achieved another hit? Coming after the box office performance of the hit anime Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which brought in over $600 million at the box office, the latest Chainsaw Man film has reached beyond the hundred-million-dollar milestone worldwide, hitting a worldwide gross of $108M in its opening frame. This movie outperformed the thriller Black Phone 2 ($12.9M) in its sophomore frame in theaters, as well as the music documentary Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere starring the talented Jeremy Allen White (nine million dollars).
Notable American and Worldwide Earnings
Directed by director Tatsuya Yoshihara, the movie is a immediate sequel of Chainsaw Man’s first season. It earned over $18 million in North America after a strong $5.2M Saturday box office and four-point-five-million-dollar Sunday performance. Overseas, the MAPPA-produced movie added $14.7M across 46 international territories, resulting in a global sum of over $60 million under Sony (over $43 million abroad, $18.2 million stateside). Sony has yet to announce its complete box office tally.
Benchmarks to Other Successful Anime Films
Promotional firm an industry expert had earlier commented, drawing parallels between the movie's expected results to the popular film Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which grossed $34M in the U.S. and Canada in 2022 and started with a similar $18M in the U.S.. The new film's opening frame matches that standard, while its $108 million international sum presently stands just behind that movie's $166.6 million final run. Although it’s unlikely Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc will achieve the earnings seen by smash success the record-breaking Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, this is still a significant success for the distributor.
Promotional Strategies Fuel Success
The studio and its partner the anime streaming service Crunchyroll have effectively leveraged community involvement to boost their supremacy at the animated movie market. This film's promotional efforts launched at the Los Angeles Anime Expo in July with a MAPPA presentation, exclusive activations, and Pochita photo ops, and later included a significant involvement at the New York Comic Con including exclusive clips, audience giveaways, and more MAPPA sessions. Additionally, there was an special preview for fans for general audiences and content creators as well after the last day of the gathering.
What’s Next
2025 is a big year for anime, and for the company, which has another animated movie premiering in 2025 in Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution in the month of November.
