“Demon Slayer” becomes the highest grossing film in Japan

An animated film based on the blockbuster series “Demon Slayer” became the highest-grossing film in the history of the Japanese box office, its distributors said on Monday, ending the reign of “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (“Spirited Away”). ”) By Hayao Miyazaki. ) since 2001.

The film, a story about a teenager fighting demons who eat people, has raised 32.47 billion ¥ since Sunday and has attracted more than 24 million in cinemas since its opening on October 16, according to co-distributors Aniplex Inc. . and Toho Co.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic limiting the film’s audience, the film reached 32.12 billion yen on Saturday, surpassing Oscar-winning director Miyazaki’s film, which earned 31 31.68 billion in box office sales.

Miyazaki’s film took 253 days to eclipse the miliar30 billion mark in box office sales, but “Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train” did so in just 59 days.

The film, directed by Haruo Sotozaki and the sequel to an anime television series aired in Japan last year, became the first film in the country to earn over $ 10 billion in 10 days since its premiere.

It surpassed “Titanic,” the 1997 American film about a romantic story aboard the unfortunate cruiser of the same name, as the second highest-grossing film in Japan since November 30.

In mid-December, as “Demon Slayer” was on track to break the “Spirited Away” record, Toho revised Miyazaki’s film sales from $ 30.8 billion to $ 31.68 billion in revenue. was redesigned in the summer.

“Demon Slayer”, which is in Japan about 100 years ago, is the story of a boy forced to fight demons after his family is sacrificed and his younger sister Nezuko is turned into one. It is based on the manga series by Koyoharu Gotoge which was published between 2016 and the beginning of this year.

The manga series, now a global success, has been translated into 14 languages ​​and is available in 33 countries and regions, according to publisher Shueisha Inc.

The film focuses on the efforts of the hero Tanjiro Kamado, together with his sister and his fellow demon killers, to save the lives of the passengers on the “Mugen Train”, named after the Japanese word for infinity, which countless people have disappeared.

Its English dubbed and subtitled versions will hit theaters in North America in early 2021, according to Aniplex. The film was released in Taiwan on October 30 and earlier this month in Thailand.

The “Demon Slayer” boom generated an economic impact of about 270 billion ¥, based on an estimate by Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute, earlier this month.

In another impetus for the “Demon Slayer” boom, the final volume of his manga series in book form was released earlier this month. Shueisha said 3.95 million copies were published as the first edition of the 23rd volume, the total cumulative number for all volumes, including digital sales, exceeding 120 million copies.

A new version of the story was this year’s bestseller in a ranking compiled by information provider Oricon Inc., while the opening theme song of the series, sung by LiSA, remains a bestseller.

The companies also gained “Demon Slayer” popularity through toys and other merchandise, while the series title was also chosen as one of Japan’s keywords for this year.