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Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc Opens Theatrically at #1, The First Slam Dunk Drops to #3
posted on by Adriana Hazra
The screenings opened last Friday, February 3, in 418 theaters in Japan. The screenings include episodes 10 and 11 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Entertainment District Arc, as well as the first Swordsmith Village Arc episode. The screenings will play in theaters in over 95 countries and territories. Muse Asia will screen the episodes theatrically in Singapore and Malaysia, and it will screen in Malaysia on February 18-19.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc will premiere on television in April with a one-hour special.
Director Haruo Sotozaki, character designer and chief animation director Akira Matsushima, the animation studio ufotable, and the main cast are all returning for the new arc.
The film is now the 43rd highest-earning film of all time in Japan.
The film ranked at #1 in its opening weekend. The film sold 847,000 tickets and earned 1,295,808,780 yen (about US$9.50 million) over its opening weekend.
The film opened in Japan on December 3. The movie has IMAX screenings in 40 cinemas all over Japan, and Dolby Atmos screenings in 34 cinemas. The movie added Dolby Cinema screenings on December 10.
Inoue personally directed the film at Toei Animation and wrote the script. Among the listed staff members are character designer/animation director Yasuyuki Ebara (Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress) and technical directors Katsuhiko Kitada (Attack on Titan episodes, Major: Yūjō no Winning Shot), Naoki Miyahara (Digimon Adventure, Popin Q), Toshio Ōhashi (LayereD Stories 0), and Yū Kamatani (Looking for Magical DoReMi, Precure Super Stars!).
Daiki Nakazawa directed the CG, and Yūta Ogura produced the CG. Kazuo Ogura directed the art. Yota Tsuruoka directed the sound with Koji Kasamatsu.
The film is now the #22 highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, and the #10 highest-grossing anime film of all time in Japan.
The film opened at #1 on November 11 and sold 1.33 million tickets to earn 1.88 billion yen (about US$13.49 million) in its first three days.
The film sold 38.7% more tickets and earned 47.4% more than Shinkai's acclaimed your name. film, which earned 1,277,960,000 yen (about US$12.51 million at the time) in its first three days. It also sold 14.8% more tickets and earned 14.4% more than Shinkai's previous film Weathering With You, marking the strongest opening three days of Shinkai's films.
Actress Nanoka Hara voices the heroine Suzume Iwato in the film. SixTONES idol group member Hokuto Matsumura (live-action Liar × Liar film's Tōru, live-action xxxHOLiC film's Shizuka Doumeki) made his voice acting debut in the film as Sōta Munakata, a young man who embarks on a journey with Suzume as the "Door-Closing Master."
Shinkai (your name., Weathering With You) directed the film and wrote the screenplay. He is also credited with the original story. Masayoshi Tanaka (your name., Weathering With You) designed the characters. Kenichi Tsuchiya (your name., Garden of Words) was the animation director. Takumi Tanji (Children Who Chase Lost Voices) was the art director. CoMix Wave Films and Story Inc. produced the movie. TOHO is distributing the film. RADWIMPS scored the film. Seattle-based Hollywood film composer Kazuma Jinnouchi (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, RWBY: Ice Queendom) scored the film alongside RADWIMPS. TikTok performer Toaka performed one of the film's theme songs "Suzume."
The film opened on January 27 in Japan and earned 85,896,750 yen (about US$659,000) in its first three days from Friday to Sunday.
The "Animation Is Film Festival" screened the film's world premiere on October 21 in Hollywood, Los Angeles.
The anime film stars Kento Kaku as Naranbayar, and Minami Hamabe as Sara.
Kotono Watanabe (Btooom!) directed the film at Madhouse. Fumi Tsubota (12-Sai: Chiccha na Mune no Tokimeki, Hugtto! Precure, Waccha PriMagi!) penned the script. Mitsuyuki Masuhara is credited as animation supervisor. Evan Call (Violet Evergarden) composed the music. NTV is credited for production coordination, and Warner Bros. Japan is distributing.
The manga is set in two rival kingdoms that have been in poor relations for a long time. The story centers on Sara and Naranbayar, a princess and young man from either country who meet by chance, and find that they must act as a couple to maintain peace in their realms. Even so, they find that they slowly fall for each other.
The anime film of Mizuki Tsujimura's Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Kagami no Kojō) novel fell of the top 10 in its seventh weekend.
The Sōkyū no Fafner Behind the Line spinoff anime dropped from #1 to #2 in the mini-theater ranking in its third weekend.
The SSSS.Gridman compilation film did not rank last weekend on the mini-theater ranking, as it screened for only two weeks.
Sources: Kōgyō Tsūshin (link 2, link 3), comScore via KOFIC
