It finally happened Demon Slayer has been knocked off its pedestal at the U.S. box office, and the series doing the dethroning is one of the newer upcomers who you’d expect. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, the latest big screen entry in Gege Akutami’s dark shonen juggernaut, has officially outperformed Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - To the Swordsmith Village in its opening U.S. weekend.
Box office analyst Luiz Fernando reported that over the Dec. 5th-7th weekend, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution pulled in $10.2 million across just 1,833 theaters, narrowly edging out Swordsmith Village’s $10.1 million debut from March 2nd, 2023. For what is essentially a TV recap special plus a sneak peek, that number is wild and it’s sending a very loud message about where anime movie hype is heading in 2026.
What makes Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution’s performance so impressive is the format. This isn’t a wholly original film like Mugen Train or Infinity Castle. Instead, it’s a compilation movie based on the Shibuya Incident arc from Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, bundled with an extended preview of what’s next for upcoming 3rd season.
The film functions as:
- A high octane recap of one of the most brutal arcs in modern shonen
- A two episode early look at Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 and the Culling Game arc
- A hype vehicle specifically engineered to launch Season 3 into the stratosphere
Despite being a repackaged story that many fans have already seen, the turnout was massive. With an estimated $5.5K per-theater average, Execution didn’t just coast on name recognition it demonstrated that JJK’s core audience is fully locked in and willing to show up in theaters for content they technically already know or need a refresher on.
Imagine the amount of fans and hype that could happen when the next full original JJK movie drops. This box office win isn’t happening in a vacuum. Execution is explicitly designed as the on ramp leading into Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, which officially premieres on January 8th, 2026 on Crunchyroll.
Season 3 will adapt the Culling Game, a chaotic, battle royale-style arc that ramps up the stakes even higher than Shibuya:
- Yuji Itadori is now an official target of the Jujutsu authorities
- His status as Sukuna’s vessel has fully detonated the old status quo
- Yuta Okkotsu is appointed as Yuji’s "executioner"
- Sorcerers are forced into a deadly game with rules that almost guarantee tragedy
If Shibuya was the franchise’s no going back moment, the Culling Game is where JJK leans into full-scale war. Execution giving fans a head start on that arc is a brilliant move and the box office numbers prove that it works.
So far, Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution is landing well with fans. The film currently holds an 80% audience approval score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter, down slightly from an initial 88% but backed by 500+ verified user ratings. That’s a solid result for a compilation project, and it reinforces the idea that fans aren’t remotely burned out on the franchise. Instead, they’re hungry for more.
Despite competing with juggernauts like Demon Slayer and Chainsaw Man for the dark shonen crown, Jujutsu Kaisen continues to prove it’s not just keeping pace it’s setting the tone for what anime box office success can look like when timed smartly around TV releases. A lot of studios are taking note.
Yes, this is technically an article about Demon Slayer losing a record. Swordsmith Village’s $10.1M U.S. opening was a milestone for the franchise, and seeing it edged out by another series is a symbolic moment. But the bigger takeaway is this:
- Anime films are no longer rare, risky experiments in U.S. theaters
- Compilation films and TV adjacent releases can still generate eight figure weekends
- Fans are treating these movies as essential canon, not optional side content
Demon Slayer helped open that door with Mugen Train and its follow-ups. Now Jujutsu Kaisen is walking through it, planting a flag, and saying, "We’re here too."
Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3 isn’t dropping into an empty calendar next year, as early 2026 is absolutely packed with heavy hitters, including:
- Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Season 2 - Jan. 16
- My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Season 2 - Jan. 5
- Fire Force Season 3, Part 2 - Jan. 10
- Oshi no Ko Season 3 - Jan. 14
- Trigun Stargaze - Jan. 10
JJK Season 3 is entering a year where competition is fierce, but if Execution’s numbers are any indication, it’s still one of the most in demand anime franchises on the planet.
If this box office headline is your wake-up call to finally catch up, here is some places where you can watch or read more JJK content:
- Jujutsu Kaisen Seasons 1-2 are streaming on Crunchyroll, Netflix, Hulu / Disney+
- Gege Akutami’s completed manga is available digitally via Viz Media and Manga Plus
- The new sequel series, Jujutsu Kaisen Modulo, written by Akutami with art by Yuji Iwasaki, is currently releasing in Weekly Shonen Jump
With Execution now surpassing Demon Slayer’s record, all eyes are on Season 3. Demon Slayer may have set the stage but in 2026, Jujutsu Kaisen is making a very real play for the throne. Will it be enough to overtake the king? Stay tuned to Animemojo.com for more updates and what is currently trending!
Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution is a theatrical compilation film that recaps the intense Shibuya Incident arc from Season 2, leading into the beginning of the Culling Game storyline, where Yuji Itadori faces a death sentence and must fight in a deadly tournament. It serves as a cinematic recap for fans, condensing Gojo's sealing and the chaos of Shibuya before unveiling new content from Season 3, focusing on the high-stakes battles and the start of the deadly Culling Game initiated by the villain Kenjaku.