This year’s wide-open Oscar race for Best Animated Feature is about to get a new contender. After setting box-office records in Japan and making a huge splash at Comic-Con over the weekend, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle is preparing for its U.S. debut — and a potential run at the Academy Awards.
The film, the first installment of a theatrical trilogy that will conclude the story of the popular anime series, opened in Japan on July 18 and grossed about $50 million in its first weekend. It should pass $100 million by the end of next weekend.
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Directed by Haruo Sotozaki and produced by the anime house Ufotable, the film finds the hero Tanjiro Kamado – a boy who joins the Demon Slayer Corps after his family is killed and his sister is turned into a demon – and his fellow slayers stranded in the titular castle, which is the fortress of demons, and setting up a battle royale.
A showcase panel for the film took place Saturday in a packed Hall H, Comic-Con’s marquee venue, and featured an appearance by the J-pop artist Lisa, who performed the film’s theme song, “Shine in the Cruel Night,” for the first time in front of a live audience. The song, written by Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina, has a legitimate shot for the Oscars shortlist.
“This is going to be an absolutely colossal worldwide event that I’m really, really excited about,” said Mitchell Berger, EVP of global commerce for Crunchyroll, the anime streamer that is distributing the film with Sony Pictures. “This is the first time that the studio Ufotable has made an appearance in the U.S. since [Comic-Con] began. … I think it speaks volumes about what anime has become and what it means to fans and creators.” According to data commissioned by the streamer, which briefed the press ahead of the Comic-Can panel, 44 percent of adults globally identify as anime fans. That percentage nearly doubles when it comes to millennials and Gen Z.
Crunchyroll will be streaming episodes of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba so fans can catch up before the film’s Sept. 12 release.
While anime’s worldwide popularity is inarguable, the form has had limited success at the Oscars outside of animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. The Studio Ghibli mastermind has twice won the Best Animated Feature prize, for Spirited Away (2001) and The Boy and the Heron (2023), and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2014 for his outsized influence on animation and cinema.
Demon Slayer is not to be confused with the similarly titled Netflix animated feature KPop Demon Hunters, which has had a massive impact both in terms of streaming numbers and cultural sway. The soundtrack has been one of the year’s biggest smashes, positioning it for Grammy contention, and the film’s Oscar prospects cannot be discounted, either. Another buzzy imported film also should figure into the mix: China’s Ne Zha 2, which has crossed the $2 billion mark globally and will have a hyped-up U.S. rerelease in August with a voice cast that includes Best Actress winner Michelle Yeoh.
Correction: The original version of this story mistakenly referred to Lisa as the performer from Blackpink, instead of the J-pop artist.
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