Anime film industry led by Demon Slayer broke the $1 BILLION mark at the global box office for the first time in a single calendar year in 2025

Commentaires

No_Name0_02026-01-01 08:40

Top 10 animes in 2025 (approximate values):

1. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle - $790.5 million

2. Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc - $175 million+

3. Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback - $166.0 million

4. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution - $40.9 million

5. Cells at Work! - $39.6 million

6. Gekijô-ban Nintama Rantarô Dokutake Ninja-tai Saikyô no Gunshi - $21.08 million

7. Crayon Shin-chan the Movie: Super Hot! The Spicy Kasukabe Dancers - $15.8 million

8. Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing - $12.3 million

9. Uta No Prince-Sama: Maji Love Taboo Night XXXX - $11.9 million

10. Hypnosis Mic – Division Rap Battle - $11.6 million

ARHAN39242026-01-01 08:45

It could have been more if china didn't ban anime due to that political stuff

kekehippo2026-01-01 09:08

China's loss, not so much for Uftoable.

ARHAN39242026-01-01 09:34

Yes but could have been even better

howdoikickball2026-01-01 16:05

Thanks Maxwell Lord

Bad_Doto_Playa2026-01-01 14:16

I have no clue if China actually banned it or not but this is a crazy statement to make, it's a huge loss for ufotable if they did.

kekehippo2026-01-01 16:29

As I understand China's censorship is pretty powerful inside the country. Is it impossible to see Demon Slayer? No. But to see it in a theater? Impossible., which is a tragic loss to the consumer.

LimLovesDonuts2026-01-01 09:34

The movie didn't get an extension but it also wasn't banned from theatres. It just didn't perform that well.

ARHAN39242026-01-01 09:36

No it was lowered the number of theatres and denied an extension

Just look at the last two weeks of it's run and just see the number of theatres it's airing in

There were literally 43 theatres one day and it still did close to a million dollars

It was performing on the high end of anime movies standards

LimLovesDonuts2026-01-01 09:37

I don't disagree but it's also not that accurate to say that it got pulled from release.

But... Even if it got extended, it's unlikely to make that big of a difference.

LifeIsNotFairOof2026-01-01 10:31

one reason for it was zootopia too, zootopia is crazy over there (I think its already 350+ million dollars over there), so theatres chose to prioritize screening that over ds.

EpsilonAlpha162026-01-01 12:23

yes, zootopia 2 crossed 500+ million in China alone(as of today)

ARHAN39242026-01-01 13:39

Yes but what I am saying is that the number of theatres were reduced even before Zootopias release

It could have easily crossed 100 million there and maybe would have broken the record of the highest grossing anime movie

But the timing of release which is literally like 3 to 4 months after the japanese release and the political stuff made this happen

DayMysterious47172026-01-01 15:01

itd at 580 million there. Its doing insane. Thats over 4 times avatar I think

SolomonBlack2026-01-01 12:39

Chinese audience don't give a shit about foreign movies. Ne Zha 2 did 1.8 billion dollars in all yuan. And comes on the heels of movies clearly 500 million pretty routinely. Ergo we can expect more billion yuan China only movies going forward even if this particular total takes a bit to top. Or maybe it doesn't.

At any rate any "big numbers" they have for anyone else are in fact just their leftover scraps.

Oh better yet by law they only let 25% leave the country. So really truly just the scraps.

ARHAN39242026-01-01 13:41

From what I know they can give a shit till suzume

I am not talking about Zootopia levels of big numbers but anime levels of big numbers

I am not saying it would compete with Chinese movies but the older anime movie releases

alinediegeile2026-01-01 14:05

they are definetly missing out

notanfan2026-01-01 08:57

Woah the difference between 1st and 2nd is huge

WarriorofBlank2026-01-01 09:22

Hataraku Saibō wow 1st time hearing about the movie, there's even live action on Netflix.

Infodump_Ibis2026-01-01 10:27

> Cells at Work! - $39.6 million

That's [a live action film](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5tPmmK-T_8) and it came out in December 2024. Let me check their data to see if they are only including 2025...oh random twitter account doesn't provide any so how can I trust any of their numbers.

Likewise what's their currency conversion as there's a lot of non-American data.

I'll do their job for them. [Warner Bros Japan said it exceeded 6.3b yen.](https://www.warnerbros.co.jp/news/8rr4-e4um/). Using today's yen conversion [(source)](https://www.exchange-rates.org/converter/usd-jpy) I get ~$40m so this calculation was done when the yen was weaker but even so unless it did next to nothing in the first weeks of release it includes 2024 data for 2025 performance.

That's a huge red flag and makes me ask, why should I trust anything @GlobalBoxOff says?

phantomthiefkid_2026-01-01 11:01

Sometimes films released in December of one year are counted in the box office chart of the next year. For example JJK0 was the 2nd highest grossing film in Japan in 2022 despite coming out in December 2021.

Anyway, here are the top 10 highest grossing anime films in Japan in 2025 (numbers in brackets are overall rankings). It's hard to get worldwide box office for some films. Source: [pixiin.com](http://pixiin.com)

* 1 (1) Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle — ¥38.7B
* 2 (3) Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback — ¥14.7B
* 3 (4) Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc — ¥10.0B
* 4 (10) Doraemon: Nobita's Art World Tales — ¥4.60B
* 5 (12) Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX: Beginning — ¥3.60B
* 6 (18) Hypnosis Mic - Division Rap Battle — ¥2.50B
* 7 (20) Crayon Shin-chan: Super Hot! Spicy Kasukabe Dancers — ¥2.33B
* 8 (25) Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution — ¥1.98B
* 9 (27) Uta no Prince-sama TABOO NIGHT XXXX — ¥1.83B
* 10 (31) Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing — ¥1.45B

Electrical_Chance9912026-01-01 12:01

Ohh man, not seeing 100 Meters here really makes me sad, that movie rivals Chainsaw Man Reze in terms of sheer quality. But based on this list, it couldn't even get more than 11 mill.

thalefteye2026-01-01 13:30

Honestly I’m surprised the miss kobayashi dragon maid movie isn’t on the list?

JinxApple2026-01-01 08:49

This is great hopefully it pushes more japanese studios to release anime movies to the west at a much shorter interval just like demon slayer and reze arc. Maybe even simulrelease like the TV series.

ImmaculateWeiss2026-01-01 08:51

Pretty big deal that I think reflects a massive shift in the industry. The days of year round anime are essentially gone with the end of One Piece, and have been totally replaced by seasonals and movies

somersault_dolphin2026-01-01 11:32

Depends. Conan and Doraemon still continue on as usual.

Kiluko62026-01-01 11:48

Wait, the end of One Piece? The manga/anime are complete??

Reaper12032026-01-01 12:22

no the anime is going seasonal shortly.

Chronigan22026-01-01 08:54

What is the source for these values?

seficarnifex2026-01-01 08:56

Public box office reporting bro

Chronigan22026-01-01 09:04

Link?

Sweet-Message11532026-01-01 09:20

good...hopefully more anime films come out in time, not be stuck in Japanese limbo for months before official dubbed release in international market

if I can see subbed HD version on pirate sites when the official dubbed version comes to theatre...why would I waste money? They need to make sure at least English subbed version is released in the same week worldwide as it's released in Japan

opelui232026-01-01 09:34

To think that that Demon Slayer manga was finished in 2020 and it still has more material to go for the anime

OGDYLO2026-01-01 10:55

i mean is that that surprising. season 1 aired one year before the manga ended. considering how long anime productions go on for and how ufotable decided to do a three part film conclusion renders not much to think about.

goathani38282026-01-01 09:38

I've been watching anime in some form before dbz came to toonami in the usa. It's too popular these days. Things are not going to for well for the industry as it seeks to make money from westerners.

Rip anime.

goathani38282026-01-01 11:36

I'm seeing a thread on X. Where a bunch of little fundamentalists christians are whining about a certain anime having pre marital sex and it's so sinful.

Turns out. Anime isn't for everyone.

Bad_Doto_Playa2026-01-01 14:51

I wish I wasn't so pessimistic about this either but after seeing quite a few of my interests get worse (on average at least) once mainstream appeal hit then I can't say I'm not expecting the same to happen here. Nothing has happened yet and I still get a bunch of shows that I want to see every year, so hopefully it stays that way, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't.

TheHowlingHashira2026-01-01 10:14

Shame that the Demon Slayer Movie was such ass

edit: lot of people here that love exposition and flashbacks

FarSurvey32852026-01-01 10:31

This is ultimately a good thing for anime as a whole, but I hope we don't start losing out on anime in a standard episodic format in favor of movies. The former is what I'm used to and prefer when watching anime. Much more of a story can be fleshed out in 12-24 25 minute episodes compared to a quick/flashy movie.

MumrikDK2026-01-01 12:08

Yeah, thumbs up anime movies. Thumbs down seasons getting turned into movies instead. They almost always lose a lot of what made them appealing. Upped production quality is obvious tremendous, but it is rarely worth the drastic compression in storytelling. Not to mention the havoc it tends to wreck on release schedules.

JamesSomdet2026-01-01 10:48

Sony bought Crunchyroll at the PERFECT time

Witty_Badger13002026-01-01 10:53

This is objectively good news. My only two concerns are:

1 - getting a season of anime instead turned into multiple films released over a span of 5-6 years, drawing out and delaying the releases, sometimes resulting in unfinished projects as the IP loses traction

2 - bad budgeting; we already see seasons of anime apparently made where 90% of the budget went to some dude in a suit in a C suite and I'm already all too familiar with Hollywood accounting. I could see more anime as stand alone films potentially exacerbating this issue.

Last_Designer26062026-01-01 11:58

Demon Slayer isn’t just carrying the industry anymore, it’s basically the final boss of the global box office. $790M for Infinity Castle is absolutely nuts when you realize it made more than the rest of the Top 10 combined. Ufotable is literally printing money at this point.

Kougeru-Sama2026-01-01 12:51

[deleted]

simp_sighted2026-01-01 13:47

This take is complete ass, 99% of the the time, the only films that ever hit that level of revenue are the ones that cater to everyone. Does that stop companies from producing Arthouse films and passion projects?

Look at the 50 highest grossing films of all time, Joker is the ONLY film in that entire list that has a restricted target audience.

You also have to consider the budgets for some of these projects, Chainsaw Man could break USD 200M globally and it had a sub USD 5M budget, every company on the planet would commit murder to get that return.

Nvee_co2026-01-01 13:16

Brace yourself, the venture capitalist are coming.

WeeklyVacation14132026-01-01 14:18

Great news for the Anime industry. Let's hope they can keep up the momentum with future releases.

wrathek2026-01-01 14:51

Cool, but how much of that went to the artists who did all the work?

AKindleSoul2026-01-01 16:07

HECK YESSSS!!! Yet another absolutely bonkers achievement for Demon Slayer. It deserves every bit of praise, love, acclaim, ratings, and hype it gets!!! Single handedly carrying the entire Anime industry on a Global Scale!!! Insanely happy for Anime industry as a whole, Anime medium is now just as easily accessible as any other medium out there. We have come soo far people, we made it!!! Feels absolutely sublime to be a part of this beautiful medium.

ZaphodBeebblebrox2026-01-01 16:36

Sorry, your submission has been removed.

- Box office posts must have greater reliability than what is, in essence, a random x account making unsourced claims.

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