One of Warner Bros.’s blockbuster films of the year came out first in opening weekend but barely. Mortal Kombat, based on the popular franchise, came in with $22.5 million from the box office, not included HBO Max streaming service where the film was also released on same day. Another film, the highly anticipated anime that sold very well in Japan, Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train, made quite splash in theaters too, coming in second with $19.5 million. Demon Slayer came in #1 on Friday but dropped to #2 on Saturday and Sunday. However, the anime film became the biggest opening weekend for a foreign-language film, second was Miramax’s Hero from 2004 at $17.8 million. As for anime itself, that #1 title still goes to Pokemon: The First Movie at $31 million.
Here’s the surprise about how the anime did in theaters. Mortal Kombat released in 3,073 theaters whereas Demon Slayer released about half that in 1,600 theaters. Pokemon: The First Movie released in 1999 at 3,043 theaters. Outside of Pokemon, anime continues to grow in theaters. Dragon Ball Super: Broly film did quite well in theaters, coming in #3 for all-time grossing anime film in North America and two films from My Hero Academia series did well too.
Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train currently in theaters. If you have interested in seeing it, do so sooner than later as the next chance outside the theater is when it releases on disc and digital this summer.
Source: Box Office Mojo