🔗 Share this article

Can Sony claim to have done it again? In the wake of the triumph of the hit anime Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which grossed more than $600 million at the box office, the new movie Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc has reached beyond the $100M milestone internationally, attaining a worldwide gross of $108M in its opening frame. This feature outperformed Black Phone 2 ($12.9M) in its second weekend in movie houses, as well as the film Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere starring actor Jeremy Allen White (nine million dollars).

Impressive Domestic and International Results

Directed by director Tatsuya Yoshihara, the movie is a direct continuation of the debut season of the Chainsaw Man series. It brought in over $18 million in the U.S. after a strong five-point-two-million-dollar Saturday box office and four-point-five-million-dollar Sunday performance. Overseas, the produced by MAPPA feature grossed $14.7M across 46 international territories, pushing its worldwide total to $60.4 million via Sony (over $43 million international, $18.2 million stateside). Official totals are still pending from Sony its official box office total.

Comparisons to Previous Successful Anime Films

Anime marketing agency a leading anime marketing group noted in prior discussions, comparing the movie's expected results to Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which earned $34 million in the North America in 2022 and opened to a comparable $18 million stateside. Reze Arc’s opening frame matches that benchmark, while its $108M worldwide total currently tracks just behind that movie's over $166 million final run. While it is improbable this Chainsaw Man film will earn the numbers of mega hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, nonetheless, it is a huge win for the distributor.

Fan Engagement Efforts Drive Performance

Sony and its subsidiary Crunchyroll have skillfully used fan engagement to propel their dominance at the animated movie market. The movie's promotional efforts began at the Anime Expo in LA in summer with a discussion featuring MAPPA, exclusive activations, and Pochita photo ops, and later included a significant involvement at the New York Comic Con including never-before-seen content, fan raffles, and additional MAPPA panels. Additionally, there was an private showing for enthusiasts for general audiences and content creators as well after the concluding day of the convention.

What’s Next

2025 stands as a major time for animated films, and for the studio, which has another anime film releasing in the coming months in the film Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution in the month of November.