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Has Sony repeated their success? In the wake of the success of the hit anime Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which grossed over $600 million at the box office, the latest Chainsaw Man film has officially crossed the hundred-million-dollar threshold internationally, attaining a global total of over $108 million this weekend. This movie beat out the horror sequel Black Phone 2 (almost $13 million) in its second weekend in theaters, as well as the film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere starring Jeremy Allen White ($9M).

Impressive American and International Performance

Helmed by filmmaker Tatsuya Yoshihara, the film is a immediate sequel of Chainsaw Man’s first season. It brought in $18.2M in the U.S. after a strong $5.2 million Saturday earnings and $4.5M Sunday performance. Globally, the produced by MAPPA feature added $14.7 million across 46 Sony markets, resulting in a global sum of $60.4 million via Sony (over $43 million abroad, $18.2 million in the U.S.). Sony has yet to announce its final earnings figure.

Parallels to Past Successful Anime Films

Specialist agency White Box Entertainment noted in prior discussions, comparing the movie's expected results to Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which earned $34M in the North America in 2022 and debuted with a similar $18M stateside. Reze Arc’s first weekend aligns with that marker, while its $108M worldwide total is now positioned a bit short of that movie's $166.6M total earnings. While it is improbable the Reze Arc movie will match the box office of blockbuster Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, nonetheless, it is a huge win for Sony.

Marketing Campaigns Drive Performance

Sony and its subsidiary the anime streaming service Crunchyroll have successfully utilized community involvement to propel their supremacy at the cinema for anime films. This film's marketing campaign launched at the Los Angeles Anime Expo in the month of July with a discussion featuring MAPPA, unique experiences, and photo opportunities with Pochita, then continued with a major presence at NYCC including never-before-seen content, lotteries for fans, and additional MAPPA panels. Additionally, there was an special preview for fans for the public and content creators as well after the last day of the event.

Looking Ahead

2025 is a big year for Japanese animation, and for the studio, which has an additional anime film premiering this year in the film Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution in late this year.