News

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Film Seen Over 10 Million Times (Updated)

The cast of the Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train film announced on Saturday that the film has sold over 10 million tickets in the 16 days since it opened on October 16. Natsuki Hanae, Satoshi Hino, and Akira Ishida made the announcement during a stage greeting appearance at a screening at Tokyo's Toho Cinemas Hibiya theater.

Hanae later joined the anime's Aniplex producer Yuma Takahashi to announce the "Kimetsu-Sai -Anime Ni-Shūnen Kinen-Sai-" (Kimetsu Festival: Anime's Second Anniversary Festival). Hanae and Takahashi said during the live-streamed "Demon Slayer Corps Bulletin: Kimetsu no Yaiba Anime's New Event Announcement Special" on Saturday that the festival will run from February 13 to February 14 at the Makuhari Messe venue's International Exhibition Halls 7 and 8 in Chiba Prefecture. The festival will feature three major stage events, exhibits for tie-in projects, and hands-on displays of character goods.

The film opened in Japan on October 16. The anime began screening in all 38 IMAX theaters in Japan on the same day. The film is the first Japanese film opening this year to screen in IMAX theaters. Theatergoers received a "Rengoku Volume 0" manga volume, which was limited to 4.5 million copies. Original manga creator Koyoharu Gotouge drew the manga, which shows Rengoku's first mission.

The film had the highest box office globally for the October 16-18 weekend. The film sold 3,424,930 tickets and earned 4,623,117,450 yen (about US$43.85 million) in Japan in its first three days, for the highest weekday opening and the highest opening weekend ever in Japan. The film then set a new record in Japan for the fastest film to earn 10 billion yen (in 10 days), beating out Spirited Away (which is currently the top-grossing film of all time in Japan, having earned 30.8 billion yen). Spirited Away took 25 days to reach 10 billion yen when it opened in Japan in 2001.

The main staff members of the previous television anime returned for the sequel film. Toho and Aniplex are handling the film's distribution in Japan.

Funimation and Aniplex of America will screen the film in theaters in North America in early 2021.

Gotouge's Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga inspired a television anime that premiered in April 2019, and aired its 26th and final episode in September 2019.

Source: Mantan Web, Demon Slayer Corps Bulletin: Kimetsu no Yaiba Anime's New Event Announcement Special

Update: With Japan's declining population of 126 million people (as of 2019), about one Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train ticket has been sold for every 12 people in Japan. It is now the 17th most viewed film in Japan, below E.T's 10.69 million, and above Avatar's 9.9 million. [Via Hachima Kikō, Otakomu]