‘Chainsaw Man’ Extends Crunchyroll’s Box Office Hot Streak, Opening At No. 1

Anime continues to thrive at the domestic box office, and this weekend was no exception with Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc opening in the top spot with an estimated $17.3 million from 3,003 theaters.

Adding in the film’s already-impressive international run, the film has earned an estimated $108 million worldwide, boosted by a strong international rollout ahead of its domestic debut. IMAX and other premium screens contributed an outsized share of ticket sales, reinforcing a narrative that anime benefits from event-style releases and anime audiences want spectacle.

This is the second Crunchyroll title in a row to open at No. 1, following September’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, which set a new anime opening record at $70 million domestically. Chainsaw Man is now the ninth anime film to open above $10 million in North America in a feat that has recently become the norm, rather than the exception.

Crunchyroll’s approach has become a blueprint for anime theatrical success, at least for major IPs. Marketing for Chainsaw Man centered on the property’s fandom, including panels and giveaways at Anime Expo and New York Comic Con, influencer screenings, and coordinated pushes across Crunchyroll’s social media accounts and streaming platform, where the Chainsaw Man series is hosted. The strategy mirrors the distributor’s recent campaigns for other large-scale anime releases, including the aforementioned Demon Slayer.

While domestic box office totals remain below pre-pandemic levels in general, anime has emerged as one of the few consistent bright spots. Crunchyroll sits at the front of the anime vanguard, supplying a consistent pipeline of popular IP titles and, increasingly, standout indies for theaters.

Whether Chainsaw Man can do much beyond its opening weekend is a question that Crunchyroll, or any anime distributor, will be familiar with. The format historically front-loads attendance, and in the past, anime titles often only got a single weekend in theaters.

Regardless of whether the typical drop-off hits next weekend, this launch confirmed what insiders have been saying for years: anime is no longer niche. It is the mainstream for a growing generation of moviegoers.