The Japanese anime and the Hollywood video game actioner will both overperform this weekend.
Even in a normal moviegoing environment, an R-rated anime action fantasy doing battle with the big Hollywood franchise release for the top spot would be a big deal. But in this current Covid-era, with every major movie being judged on a kind of “the fate of theatrical moviegoing is at stake” level, it’s a double-sized miracle this weekend. Yes, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train earned a best-case-scenario $9.5 million, topping this weekend’s official would-be biggie. But New Line’s Mortal Kombat will likely win the weekend, having earned $9 million with a much less frontloaded fanbase. Point being, both movies performed far better than pre-release tracking and I’d argue both performed about on par with conventional expectations in a non-Covid scenario. So, yeah, for the first time in forever, it’s a win/win weekend at the box office. Pro tip: Seeing the Demon Slayer movie without having watched any of the Demon Slayer show is much, much more challenging than when I saw the Downton Abbey movie despite never having watched the show. It looked and sounded glorious in a Dolby Cinema auditorium, and I couldn’t help but wonder how much more I would have enjoyed at least some “clear made for theaters” movies ( News of the World, Raya and the Last Dragon, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, etc.) had I seen them at the Arclight (#RIP for now) or in IMAX as opposed to on a laptop or on a TV. My joking plan was to constantly ask my kid questions as she (and her siblings) do when we watch movies at home. Alas, my plan was foiled since the theater was sold out. Released by Funimation, Demon Slayer earned a whopping $9.5 million on Friday (counting the Thursday previews), which will likely lead to a $20 million Fri-Sun cume in just 1,600 theaters. That $12,793 per-theater-average will be the biggest since Sonic the Hedgehog ’s $58 million Fri-Sun debut in February 2020.
