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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Film Is #1 Film in Taiwan in 2020, #1 All-Time Animated Film in Taiwan
posted on by Egan Loo
Taiwanese animation distributor Muse Communication announced on Monday that the Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train anime has earned NT$360 million (about 1.318 billion yen or US$12.6 million) in the 17 days since it opened in Taiwan on October 30. In doing so, it has not only become the highest-earning film in Taiwan this year, but also the highest-earning animated film of all time in Taiwan.
Only two other films have earned over NT$300 million in Taiwan this year: South Korea's Peninsula (about NT$356 million) and the British-American film Tenet (about NT$349 million). Until Demon Slayer, the highest-earning animated film in Taiwan of all time was Frozen 2 with about NT$343 million.
In addition to its box office success, the Demon Slayer film spurred tie-in character goods sales in pop-up shops and even sports running events in three cities in Taiwan.
Demon Slayer had earned NT$270 million (about 1 billion yen or US$9.53 million) after 10 days at the Taiwanese box office. The film opened in Taiwan on October 30, and sold 470,000 tickets to earn NT$117 million (about 430 million yen or US$4.09 million) within three days, for the highest opening for an animated film in Taiwan by surpassing Frozen 2 and your name.
The film has sold a total of 17,505,285 tickets for a cumulative earning of 23,349,291,050 yen (about US$223 million) as of Sunday, November 15, after 31 days in theaters in Japan.
The film was already the seventh highest-earning film worldwide in 2020, when Japan's box office totals are combined with Taiwan's. (The film's box office totals in Japan alone made it the eighth highest-earning film worldwide this year as of the previous weekend.) The film was also the fifth highest-earning film outside the United States and the second highest-earning animated film of the year worldwide. The only 2020 animated film earning more so far is the Chinese film Legend of Deification with the equivalent of US$240,577,111, and Demon Slayer is well above the #3 animated film of 2020 worldwide, Pixar's Onward (US$141,494,520).
Depending on this past weekend's box office totals in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Demon Slayer is poised to top Legend of Deification as the highest-grossing animated film worldwide in 2020.
Last week, the film became the fifth highest-earning film of all time in Japan, surpassing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone's 20.3 billion yen gross. It also became the third highest-earning anime film of all time in Japan, below 2001's Spirited Away (30.8 billion yen) and 2016's your name. (25.03 billion yen).
The film opened on October 16 at #1 in its opening weekend, and had the highest opening weekend 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. The film sold 910,507 tickets and earned over 1,268,724,700 yen (about US$12.03 million) in its opening day alone, making it the highest weekday opening day in Japan ever.
The film sold 1,270,234 tickets and earned 1,701,723,350 yen (about US$16.14 million) on its second day. It sold 1,239,752 tickets and earned 1,652,669,400 yen (about US$15.67 million) on its third day. The Saturday and Sunday totals combined are Japan's highest weekend opening ever.
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.
Source: Focus Taiwan via Otakomu
