‘Demon Slayer’ Movie Breaks Japan’s All-Time Opening Weekend Record, Tops Global Box Office

This success didn’t come out of nowhere. Mugen Train is based on Koyoharu Gotoge’s manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump between February 2016 and May 2020; it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time, with more than 80 million copies in circulation. It has inspired numerous spin-offs, including anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Here’s the official synopsis for the project:

It is the Taisho Period in Japan. Tanjiro, a kind-hearted boy who sells charcoal for a living, finds his family slaughtered by a demon. To make matters worse, his younger sister Nezuko, the sole survivor, has been transformed into a demon herself. Though devastated by this grim reality, Tanjiro resolves to become a “demon slayer” so that he can turn his sister back into a human, and kill the demon that massacred his family.

In Japan, which has seen relatively low rates of coronavirus infections and deaths, theaters began reopening in May. Last month, seating restrictions were removed except in screenings where food is allowed, in which case capacity remains limited to 50%. For this weekend, many theaters, including the major Toho chain — part of the same conglomerate as the film’s distributor — announced that they would open all their screens at full capacity.

Mugen Train is directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by the Tokyo-based Ufotable; both also worked on the tv series. The Sony-owned divisions Funimation and Aniplex of America are partnering to release the film in North America early next year.