The Japanese anime phenomenon Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has been slaying box office records for a couple of months now; the slaying begins in India this weekend. Even before a single show has been screened, the film has already become the highest-grossing non-Hollywood foreign film in India, overtaking Suzume and Jujutsu Kaisen 0, both of which earned around Rs. 10 crore.
As of this morning, Infinity Castle has clocked in nearly Rs. 15 crore pre-sales. The sales are strong not only for the weekend but are spilling over to weekdays. This comes with an extremely restricted rollout; advance hasn’t even opened yet at national chains' properties in major centres like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and almost all tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Even so, PVRINOX and Cinepolis have already amassed over Rs. 10 crore in advances for the weekend. Once the advance plans open everywhere, expect absolute mayhem.
Japanese anime has seen a meteoric rise in popularity worldwide, and India is no exception. At the forefront of this popularity wave is Demon Slayer. The first film from the franchise, Mugen Train, was released in a COVID-fested market and still managed to smash every conceivable record for Japanese cinema. That appeared to be the ceiling; however, it's the Infinity Castle which is showing the true potential, shattering the ceiling.
Mugen Train barely had a release in India, and since then, the franchise has only grown, building an undercurrent of fandom that is about to erupt on full display this week.
The signs were always there. Interest count on ticketing portal BookMyShow was massive, exceeding the biggest blockbusters locally. However, with the tendency of these films to be fan-driven, it was an uncharted territory, tough to put a number to. Even now, it's not clear what the potential really is here. Infinity Castle shall easily rake in advance of over Rs. 30 crore. It could go higher, Rs. 40 crore? Or maybe even Rs. 50 crore? There is no telling at this stage. How much it does after that, no one knows. For now, it's just sit back and watch the phenomenon unfold.
