Demon Slayer had its debut in US theaters, already beating out Mortal Kombat's opening day box office.
After massive success in Japan, Demon Slayer -- Kimetsu no Yaiba -- The Movie: Mugen Train opened in US theaters at #1 nationwide to $9.5 million, including its Thursday pre-shows. According to Gitesh Pandya on Twitter, the film is "the 2nd biggest opening day of the whole pandemic behind the $9.6M WED launch of [Godzilla vs. Kong]" with the global gross totaling over $400 million.Â
Despite Demon Slayer earning the top box office spot on Friday, Mortal Kombat still earned $9.03 million its first day in theaters, the "[third] biggest opening day of any film during the pandemic" as reported by Pandya, and is projected to lead the box office for the whole weekend. Pandya also notes that both films leading the US box office this weekend are led by "Asian and Asian diaspora actors" and are projected to drive over $45 million in combined weekend sales.
This is not the first record Demon Slayer has broken as it was the largest IMAX release in Japan. It is also now the fastest movie to earn more than $100 million in Japan within ten days of its Oct. 16 release, beating the previous record set by Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away, which earned $100 million in 19 days.