”Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle” becomes Korea's highest-grossing film of the year... a first for a Japanese film

The Japanese anime film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle has become this year's biggest hit in South Korea. This marks the first time a Japanese production has topped the Korean box office.

As of midnight on the 22nd, "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train" recorded a cumulative audience of 5,638,737, overtaking "My Daughter, Who Became a Zombie" (5,637,455) to claim the top spot in South Korea's overall box office for the year. While live-action foreign films like 2010's "Avatar", 2011's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon", and 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" have topped the annual box office, "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle" is the first animated film to achieve this feat.

It was revealed that screenings in formats such as 4DX, IMAX, and Dolby Cinema accounted for approximately 19% of viewings, with 1.06 million people watching in these specialised theatres. The consistently high praise for its exceptional animation quality and overwhelming action scale since its opening, fuelled a wave of repeat viewings across diverse formats, driving its hit momentum. Furthermore, weekly venue presentation events and diverse fan-focused activities like merchandise screenings and support screenings continued, maintaining high seat occupancy rates even into its 14th week of long-term screening, proving the sustained box office fervour.

Additionally, the 4DX global box office for "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle" surpassed $29.3 million, making it the highest-grossing 4DX release this year. This represents the highest global record ever for a Japanese animation screened in 4DX, and ranks eighth globally among all 4DX films. The global average seat occupancy rate also reached 51%, leading steady audience flow even during the extended run.

In Japan, cumulative attendance reached 26.04 million and box office revenue hit ¥37.9 billion as of the 16th. It trails "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train" (¥40.7 billion) by approximately ¥2.8 billion, with both films occupying the top two positions. In China, where it opened on the 14th of this month, it surpassed ¥100 million in box office revenue on its opening day and achieved ¥300 million vs within three days. Globally, it has earned ¥106.3 billion at the box office, becoming the first Japanese film ever to surpass ¥100 billion worldwide.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle depicts the first chapter of the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the most elite demons.