Since landing in Japan with a record-breaking $44 million debut, Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train has continued to enjoy box office success. Now, Demon Slayer The Movie has surpassed the 20.3 billion yen total intake of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to become the fifth-highest grossing film of all time in Japan.

Based on the 2019 anime series of the same name, Demon Slayer The Movie followed its successful premiere by adding 3.135 billion yen to its total gross by the end of its second weekend of release. With this achievement alone, the anime film set new records for the best weekend, the second-best weekend, and the best second weekend in Japanese box office history.

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Mantan Web now reports Demon Slayer: The Movie has earned more than 20.4 billion yen (US$197 million) from over 15 million tickets as of November 8th. In addition to claiming the title of fifth highest-grossing film in Japan from the first Harry Potter film, Demon Slayer now ranks as the third highest-earning anime film of all time in the country as well, besting Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. At this time, the anime film only trails Your Name, Disney's Frozen, James Cameron's Titanic, and Miyazaki's Spirited Away in Japan. In terms of ticket sales, Demon Slayer has surpassed or at least equaled the total earned by Howl's Moving Castle. 

With little to no competition being released in Japan during the coming weeks, Demon Slayer reportedly has the potential to dethrone Spirited Away's 30.8 billion yen total and become the country's highest-grossing film of all-time. Internationally, the anime film is already playing in Taiwan theaters and is currently scheduled to be released in the United States in 2021. Funimation and Aniplex of America have partnered to handle distribution in North America.

The box office success of Demon Slayer The Movie may be record-breaking, but might not have been entirely unexpected. Before Demon Slayer premiered, TOHO announced it would lift the capacity restrictions on its theaters for the film's opening weekend in order to meet the high demand for tickets.

How the film fares in North America may be a different story considering the dire state of movie theaters in the United States. The head of The National Association of Theater Owners recently warned that cinemas will go bankrupt without a financial relief package from the United States Congress.

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Source: Mantan Web