, Columnist
Anime’s ‘Demon Slayer’ Hit Is a Watershed for Japan
Its animation finally has a global box-office smash. Now the country must capitalize on it.
Can the anime industry capitalize on this global success?
Photographer: Richard A. Brooks/AFP/Getty
Japanese animation has dominated streaming for years. Now, it’s slaying on the silver screen, too.
Demon Slayer — Kimetsu no Yaiba: Infinity Castle1, the first part of three movies that will conclude the hottest anime property in years, last weekend opened to $70.6 million in North America. That goes further than simply a record for a Japanese animation, or the most for a foreign-language film. It’s the sort of figure you’d expect to see from a mainstream Hollywood hit — a James Bond, say, or Fast & Furious.