With 2026 starting, it only makes sense to take a look at what happened over the last year in the box office. The 2025 theatrical landscape wrapped with strong numbers and a notable surge in anime's global appeal. According to Box Office Mojo data, the first entry in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle trilogy secured seventh place among the year's top grossing films, amassing a whopping $718,491,762 worldwide.
In the United States, it ranked as the second highest animated release (18th overall) with $134,487,320, while claiming third among animated films globally. Several other anime titles cracked the worldwide top 100, underscoring the expanding footprint of anime. Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback landed at #26 with $166,061,012, achieved without U.S. screenings. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc followed at #27, earning $158,289,386. Lower down the list, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution placed #71 with $41,401,792.
Non anime adaptations from Asian source material also performed well globally. Japan's live-action Kokuho, now the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film domestically ever, ranked #38 globally at $119,641,262. Horror entries like The Exit 8 (based on the viral game) hit #76 with $39,003,150, and Korean webtoon adaptation My Daughter is a Zombie reached #77 with $37,891,989 both without having U.S. releases. Rounding out the list, the Netflix top runner KPop Demon Hunters secured #98 with $24,619,953 despite limited theatrical runs.
The year's overall champion in the global box office was China's animated sequel Ne Zha 2, hitting a total of $2,244,267,207 and dominating with massive domestic earnings and limited international play. Disney's Zootopia 2 followed closely as a family favorite with $1,588,247,129, with the live-action Lilo & Stitch remake completing the podium with $1,038,027,526 and closing it out for the top 3 of the year for animated films. (Avatar: Fire and Ash is techinically 3rd but doesnt count as an "animated" film)
Gower Street Analytics estimates the full global box office at $33.5 billion, marking a 12% rise from 2024. Deadline highlighted anime's role in this growth, describing it as "a growing medium that is expanding globally and resonates with an underserved audience while also drawing new customers." Japan, the second largest international market behind China, saw a remarkable 35% increase in local currency (33% in USD), fueled partly by domestic hits and strong anime turnout.
This performance reflects broader trends in the market: animation, particularly from Asia, drove significant revenue amid a year of franchise recalibrations and varied Hollywood outputs. With theatrical events proving resilient and anime crossing cultural barriers, 2025 solidified the genre's status as a box office powerhouse. As sequels and adaptations continue dominating slates, the momentum positions anime for even greater impact in upcoming years. Will we see another big increase in 2026? That remains to be seen.