It was another incredible week in September, as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle destroyed so many records in its domestic debut, as well as new overseas territories. The rest of the newcomers had varying degrees of performance: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale and The Long Walk had solid debuts, and Spinal Tap II: The End Continues unsurprisingly flopped in wide release.

The Top 10 earned a combined $139.3 million this weekend. That's up a massive 61.9% from last year, when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice repeated at #1.

Debuting at #1, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle earned an incredible $70.6 million in 3,315 theaters. That's not only the biggest in the franchise, but it's also the biggest debut for an anime film domestically, dethroning Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back ($31 million) after 26 years. It's also the sixth biggest September debut in history, and the biggest animated debut of the year.

How could Demon Slayer open this high? It's one thing to break Pokémon's record, but to make twice as much is just nonsensical. Simply put, the popularity of the anime and manga have increased drastically over the past years (it's reported to have sold 220 million copies). But the main selling point was that this is the beginning of the end: it's the first part of a planned trilogy. So it's practically getting all possible fans for the final ride.

Sony didn't spend much on marketing: Deadline reported marketing was just $10-$12 million, and that didn't include linear or sports spend. Instead, Sony heavily targeted promo on Crunchyroll, which was a smart strategy. Some properties just prove to have a more loyal audience, who is ready to pay tickets for a film.

According to Sony, 57% of the audience was male and 71% was in the 18-34 demographic. Its biggest demographic was Hispanics, which represented 37% of the audience. They gave it a strong "A" on CinemaScore, which fits well with its positive reviews. The film is just $15 million away from passing Pokémon to become the biggest anime title in North America. It also really makes you think how big the next two films will be, whenever they come out.

And don't expect great legs for this. Anime titles have been notorious for their front-loaded nature, and with a huge debut, Demon Slayer is going to take a steep drop next week. It's also seen in its opening weekend, for walk-ups were very weak: walk-ups represented only 33% of the weekend's audience. For a comparison, the average walk-ups for an MCU title usually is 50% or 60%, and family titles are 75%. So clearly, the film won't have much appeal outside its fanbase. But when there's numbers like this, it's hard to be disappointed.

In second place, The Conjuring: Last Rites earned $25.6 million. That's a gigantic 69.5% drop from last week, which is the steepest in the franchise; it was worse than The Nun (66.1%). The drop isn't entirely surprising, given the film's "finale factor" led to a gigantic opening and the film's mediocre reception, but it still fell harder than expected. Nevertheless, with $130.5 million in the bank, it doesn't really matter as it's already a big hit. It's just $7 million away from passing the original Conjuring for the highest grossing film in the franchise, but it doesn't look like $200 million will be reachable.

In third place, Focus Features' Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale earned $18.1 million in 3,694 theaters. That's 13% above A New Era ($16 million), but it's still below the first film ($31.3 million). Not like there wasn't much to be expected here.

By this point, it's pretty much clear that this is for fans of the show only. It couldn't garner the big jump like other "finale factor" films, but it's probably unrealistic to expect it. At least the reviews (90% on RT) were strong enough to make sure that people knew this would be a satisfying closure to this franchise.

According to Focus Features, 72% of the audience was female. As expected, it skewed old; 56% of the audience was 55 and over. They gave it a strong "A" on CinemaScore, suggesting very word of mouth on its favor. Usually, films targeting old audiences enjoy good legs. So at the very least, Downton Abbey should make something around $50 million at worst.

In fourth place, Lionsgate's The Long Walk debuted with $11.7 million in 2,845 theaters. Compared to other Stephen King adaptations, that's below this year's The Monkey ($14 million) and 2023's The Boogeyman ($12.3 million). But those were more supernatural horror, compared to the dystopian thriller horror in The Long Walk.

The budget was kept low at $20 million, so this a well enough debut. And it's complicated to ask for much better numbers for a film like this. For decades, attempts to adapt the novel have fizzled out, with Frank Darabont attached at one point. Unlike other mainstream horror films, this was very bleak, given that this revolves around teenagers forced to participate in a march, where they'll be killed if they stop. Reviews were quite strong (90% on RT), but some audience members probably preferred to skip it based on its content. It doesn't help that it opened on the second weekend of The Conjuring: Last Rites, which was the main horror attraction this month.

According to Lionsgate, 61% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a "B" on CinemaScore, which is fine for a horror, especially considering the film's brutal and bleak tone. Perhaps it could leg out, but The Conjuring is still the top horror title, and Him could surprise the following week. For now, The Long Walk should finish with around $30 million. Not bad for a film like this.

Disney re-released Toy Story for its 30th anniversary, and the film earned $3.4 million in 2,375 theaters. That took its lifetime total to $195.9 million.

Weapons dropped 47.8% and added $2.7 million this weekend. The film has earned $147.4 million, and it should cross $150 million in the next few days.

After its strong debut, Hamilton collapsed 78.1%, earning 2.2 million. Through 10 days, the film has made $14.9 million.

In eighth place, Freakier Friday dropped 45.2%, for a $2.1 million weekend. That took its domestic total to $91.1 million, and it looks like it will finish below the $100 million milestone.

You have to go to ninth place to find another wide newcomer. Did you know there was a Spinal Tap sequel this weekend? You can't be blamed for missing it, as Bleecker Street often misses the mark when it comes to distributing films. And such was the case of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which flopped with just $1.6 million in 1,920 theaters. On a $22 million budget, that's absolutely poor.

This debut is no surprise. Despite its status as one of the greatest comedies ever, This Is Spinal Tap is still a niche property. After all, the original film tapped out with just $4.4 million domestically. Even if we adjusted for inflation, that's just $14 million, which is far below other popular comedies at the time. Usually, when you make a sequel, you strike while the iron is hot, not 41 years later. Even the reviews were far from the original (a middling 67% on RT and 59 on Metacritic), so there was no appeal outside of big fans.

According to Bleecker Street, 74% of the audience was male. A huge problem for the sequel was the lack of interest from young audiences, and the stats reflect that: 60% of the audience was 45 and over. Basically, it's only aimed towards Gen X and older Millennials. In some good news, they gave it a good "A–" on CinemaScore, which is actually above the original's "B". Although the original was a brand new property that audiences weren't prepared for back in 1984. Nevertheless, with a very slow debut, it's gonna lose tons of screenings soon. It's very likely Spinal Tap II fails to outgross the original's unadjusted domestic gross.

Rounding out the Top 10 was another re-release: The Sound of Music, which made $1.6 million in 1,219 theaters. That takes its lifetime gross to $164.8 million.

Just outside the Top 10, The Fantastic Four: First Steps dropped 53% and added $1.5 million this weekend. The film's domestic total stands at $272.4 million.

The Indian title Mirai managed to earn $1.2 million in 400 theaters. That's $1.6 million if we add its Thursday numbers.

The Bad Guys 2 dropped 52%, for a $1.1 million weekend. The film has earned $79.4 million, and it will close with around $83 million domestically.

Caught Stealing is also leaving theaters very quickly, as it fell from fifth place all the way to #14. After its steep second weekend drop, the third weekend was even worse: 65%, and just $1.1 million. The film has earned $17.6 million, and it's gonna struggle to get to $20 million.

In limited release, Mubi's The History of Sound debuted with $82,143 in 4 theaters. That translates to a so-so $20,536 per-theater average.

OVERSEAS

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle also opened in a lot of key markets overseen by Sony, and that led to a pretty great weekend. The film earned $61 million overseas, taking its worldwide debut to $132 million. Adding in its Asian markets, the film has already grossed a gigantic $450 million (according to Deadline, there's some higher estimates but they're still unconfirmed). The film had strong debuts in Mexico ($9.8M), India ($5.2M), the UK ($4.6M), Brazil ($4.4M), Spain ($3.7M), Australia ($3.2M), Italy ($3M), Saudi Arabia ($2.8M), Peru ($2.8M), Central America ($2.4M), Argentina ($2.2M), and Chile ($2.2M). By next week, the film will pass Mugen Train ($506 million) to become the biggest Japanese film in history.

The Conjuring: Last Rites added $60.5 million overseas, which is quite solid considering the arrival of Demon Slayer, allowing it to take its worldwide total to a fantastic $332 million. The best markets are Mexico ($21.2M), the UK ($16.6M), Brazil ($13.4M), India ($10.4M) and Germany ($10.3M). By next week, it'll become the first film in the franchise to cross $400 million worldwide.

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale opened with $12.6 million overseas, for a $30.4 million worldwide start. Obviously, its biggest market was the UK with $6.3 million, preventing Demon Slayer from taking the top spot. Other markets include France ($1.4M), Australia ($1.2M), Netherlands ($900K) and Italy ($500K). This is solid, considering these were just 31 markets. It will keep adding more in the next few weeks.

Two films hit milestones this weekend. Materialists, which is still going strong in its international run, has passed $100 million worldwide. It's A24's third biggest film worldwide, just behind Everything Everywhere All At Once ($142 million) and Civil War ($127 million). Also this weekend, Paramount's The Naked Gun has finally crossed $100 million worldwide.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Elio Jun/20 Disney $20,840,667 $72,987,454 $154,075,778 $150M Together Jul/30 Neon $6,763,357 $21,273,159 $32,273,159 $17M Honey Don't! Aug/22 Focus Features $3,025,525 $5,810,510 $6,736,510 $20M

Very dark times for Pixar originals. Elio has ended its run with a very poor $72 million domestically and $154 million worldwide. In both fronts, it's an all-time low for Pixar. Factoring its $150 million budget, this is one of the year's biggest flops. Failing to attract families, this is some bad omen for the studio, at least on the original titles. You can see it in its future: 3 of the 5 scheduled titles are sequels. The big question now is what will be of Hoppers next year? Cause Elio showed there's no floor for a Pixar title.

Neon's Together has closed with $21 million domestically and $32 million worldwide. A solid take for a body horror, but its $17 million budget doesn't paint the film as a success. Clearly there's a market for the genre, but there's clearly a ceilling on its potential.

Turns out the title was a warning. Ethan Coen's Honey Don't! has closed with a terrible $5.8 million domestically and $6.7 million worldwide, against a $20 million budget. Somehow managed to make even less than Drive-Away Dolls, but the film's very tepid response at Cannes killed all its prospects. Whatever the case, it's clear that Ethan's solo works aren't connecting with audiences.

THIS WEEKEND

There's two newcomers, and only one will fight for the top spot.

Universal is releasing something we rarely see on films: a sports horror film. That's Him, which follows the trials of a young up-and-coming football player training at the isolated compound of an aging, nearly retired quarterback. Produced by Jordan Peele, it stars Marlon Wayans, playing against type as the antagonistic quarterback. The premise and trailers look very intriguing, and those horror fans uninterested in The Conjuring could get interested in this. But will it be strong enough to take the #1 spot?

The other release is Sony's A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, directed by Kogonada. A romantic fantasy film starring Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell. There aren't many options for couples, so this is a film that could be a main attraction for women. But the film has skipped festivals, and awareness seems quite low on this one. Sony spent $50 million in buying the film, so there's some high expectations that might not pan out.

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