Anime, Crunchyroll and Sony have been enjoying a successful streak at the box office. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle was an immense box office hit, raking in over $660 million worldwide on a reported $20 million budget. Now, another successful anime adaptation has arrived: Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc. Serving as a direct continuation to the first season of the 2022 Chainsaw Man anime (itself an adaptation of the 2018 "Chainsaw Man" manga), the movie enjoyed a warm crirtical reception, scoring a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an A on CinemaScore. Now, financial success is joining its critical praise.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film opened to an impressive (estimated) $17.3 million in North America from a wide release of 3,003 theaters, beating the openings of Regretting You ($12.9 million domestic) and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere ($9.1 million domestic). The film also beat Black Phone 2 on its second weekend ($13 million domestic). Internationally, Chainsaw Man has brought in $43.1 million, taking it to $90.7 million internationally. Adding to that its US opening, Chainsaw Man has made an estimated $108 million worldwide.
To puts things into perspective with another anime film adaptation, 2022's Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero made approximately $20 million during its domestic opening weekend. Though there isn't a precise worldwide box-office figure for Super Hero, its total ranges from $86.5 million (per Box Office Mojo) to $97.2 million (per The Numbers). Chainsaw Man marks yet another victory for distributors Crunchyroll and Sony, who also handled the international distribution for the Demon Slayer movie earlier this year.
Chainsaw Man tells the story of Denji, a young man forced to pay off his father's debt to the Yakuza by working for them as a demon hunter. This leads to his death, but he's brought back to life by his Chainsaw Devil dog, Pochita—the first iteration of the Chainsaw Man. Pochita sacrifices his life to become Denji's heart, giving him new life coupled with the power to morph parts of his body into chainsaws.
During this year's New York Comic Con in October, Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc Assistant Director Masato Nakazono discussed (via THR) the challenges of adapting the manga into a movie format:
"There are no speaking words between panels, so we have to create that and make sure the dialogue is going to stand up. The characters Reze and Denji have very personal, intimate relations. Denji thinks Reze is so cute, so we wanted to do things that made the audience feel the same way as Denji would."
Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc is currently in theaters.