Has Sony achieved another hit? In the wake of the triumph of the hit anime Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which brought in in excess of $600 million worldwide, the new movie Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc has surpassed the hundred-million-dollar threshold globally, hitting a international earnings of $108M during its debut. This feature outperformed 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 featuring actor Jeremy Allen White (nine million dollars).
Strong American and Global Earnings
Helmed by Tatsuya Yoshihara, the feature is a straightforward follow-up of the debut season of the Chainsaw Man series. It grossed $18.2M in North America after a robust $5.2 million Saturday and $4.5M Sunday take. Internationally, the produced by MAPPA movie earned $14.7M across 46 global regions, pushing its worldwide total to $60.4 million under Sony ($43.1M international, $18.2M stateside). The studio has not yet revealed its official box office total.
Benchmarks to Past Anime Hits
Promotional firm White Box Entertainment noted in prior discussions, contrasting the movie's expected results to the anime hit Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which grossed thirty-four million dollars in the domestic market in the year 2022 and debuted with a comparable $18M in the U.S.. The new film's first weekend is in line with that benchmark, while its $108 million international sum presently stands slightly below Jujutsu Kaisen 0’s $166.6 million total earnings. Although it’s unlikely this Chainsaw Man film will match the box office of mega hit the enormous hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, this is still a major victory for the distributor.
Promotional Strategies Drive Performance
The studio and its partner Crunchyroll have effectively leveraged audience interaction to boost their supremacy at the cinema for anime films. The Reze Arc promotional efforts began at Anime Expo Los Angeles in the month of July with a discussion featuring MAPPA, exclusive activations, and Pochita photo ops, followed by a significant involvement at the New York Comic Con showcasing never-before-seen content, fan raffles, and additional MAPPA panels. Additionally, there was an exclusive fan screening for general audiences and content creators as well after the last day of the event.
Looking Ahead
This year marks a big year for Japanese animation, and for the company, which has an additional anime film premiering in the coming months in Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution in November.
