WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Demon Slayer Captures No. 1 Spot w/ $6.42M 2nd Weekend; Mortal Kombat Falls to Runner-Up Position w/ $6.24M

Images courtesy of Funimation/Warner Bros.

Last weekend was another encouraging one at the domestic box office with the dual releases of Mortal Kombat and Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train, both of which grossed north of $20 million and injected new life into theaters. Those films retained their top-two positioning in the current frame, but with Demon Slayer adding additional screens to its footprint, the anime swapped places with Mortal Kombat to take the top spot this go-round.

After opening to $21.14 million in its opening weekend, Funimation’s Demon Slayer dropped a steep 70% to bring in an estimated $6.42M in its sophomore frame from 1,905 locations – a count that includes several premium large format screens that were held by Mortal Kombat last weekend. That brings the R-rated anime to $32.22M after 11 days of release (including its opening-day gross two Thursdays ago), which already makes it the third highest-grossing anime film of all time in North America after 1999’s Pokemon: The First Movie ($85.74M) and 2000’s Pokemon the Movie 2000 ($43.76M). It surpassed the lifetime gross of 2019’s Dragon Ball Super: Broly ($30.71M) on Saturday.

Falling to second place, Warner Bros.’ Mortal Kombat took in an estimated $6.24M in its sophomore frame from 3,114 locations, a sharp drop of 73% from its opening gross of $23.3M. That’s a much steeper second-weekend descent than the 1995 adaptation of the long-running video game franchise, which dipped 55% in its second weekend (albeit in non-pandemic times). The video-game reboot now has $34.09M after ten days of release.

Compared with similar pandemic-era titles, the new Mortal Kombat’s sophomore slump is notably pronounced. In January, Warner Bros’ Wonder Woman 1984 fell 68% in its second weekend, while the studio’s Godzilla vs. Kong declined just 56% in its sophomore frame last month. All three were concurrently available on HBO Max.

The second-weekend declines of Demon Slayer and Mortal Kombat aren’t necessarily surprising given that both fall into traditionally front-loaded genres. Anime and video-game adaptations draw audiences made up largely of young males who tend to rush out on opening weekend, often leading to precipitous second-weekend declines for those genres.

Godzilla vs. Kong held steady in third place with an estimated $2.74M, a decline of 36% from last weekend. The Warner Bros. tentpole has $90.31M after five weeks of release.

Opening in fourth was the poorly-reviewed Open Road/Briarcliff horror title Separation, which debuted with a relatively disappointing $1.83M from 1,751 locations. That’s significantly less than The Unholy made in its debut frame in early April, when it grossed $3.15M from 1,850 theaters.

In fifth, Disney’s leggy Raya and the Last Dragon grossed an estimated $1.34M in its ninth weekend of release, bringing the total for the animated adventure to $41.58M.

Sixth place went to Universal’s Nobody, which brought in an estimated $1.26M in its sixth weekend of release. The Bob Odenkirk action title, which has had a relatively long tail in terms of pandemic box office, has $23.36M to date.

Sony/Screen Gems’ The Unholy took seventh place with an estimated $1.07M in its fifth weekend, bringing the total for the horror title to $13.13M.

Boasting the best per-screen average in the top 10 was Universal’s 10th anniversary re-release of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which took in an estimated $720,000 from just 152 locations for a per-screen average of $4,737 in eighth place.

Opening outside the top 10 in limited release was the BAFTA-nominated British comedy-drama Limbo, which took in an estimated $90,000 from 208 theaters.

OVERSEAS

Mortal Kombat grossed an estimated $3M from 39 international markets, bringing its overseas cume to $32.8M and its global total to $66.9M.

Godzilla vs. Kong brought in an estimated $2.7M from 42 markets for an international total of $325.1M and a global tally of $415.5M, including $185.5M in China.


Title Estimated weekend % change Locations Location change Average Total Weekend Distributor
Demon Slayer The Movi… $6,421,514 -72% 1,905 300 $3,371 $34,140,444 2 FUNimation
Mortal Kombat $6,235,000 -73% 3,114 41 $2,002 $34,087,000 2 Warner Bros.
Godzilla vs. Kong $2,740,000 -36% 2,753 -103 $995 $90,310,000 5 Warner Bros.
Separation $1,831,000   1,751   $1,046 $1,831,000 1 Open Road
Raya and the Last Dragon $1,335,000 -23% 1,810 -9 $738 $41,580,947 9 Walt Disney
Nobody $1,260,000 -28% 2,056 -196 $613 $23,367,810 6 Universal
The Unholy $1,065,000 -27% 1,538 -297 $692 $13,130,419 5 Sony Pictures
Scott Pilgrim vs. The… $720,000   152   $4,737 $32,331,316 560 Universal
Tom and Jerry $515,000 -29% 1,209 -721 $426 $44,203,000 10 Warner Bros.
Together Together $313,051 -41% 659 -6 $475 $1,018,378 2 Bleecker Street
Four Good Days $303,000   298   $1,017 $303,000 1 Vertical Entertainment
The Girl Who Believes… $195,000 -44% 728 -213 $268 $2,767,725 5 Atlas Distribution
The Croods: A New Age $180,000 -11% 1,111 -45 $162 $57,576,520 23 Universal
The Father $147,000 83% 713 138 $206 $1,887,805 8 Sony Pictures Classics
The Resort $95,000   114   $833 $95,000 1 Vertical Entertainment
Limbo $90,000   208   $433 $90,000 1 Focus Features
Voyagers $79,000 -54% 937 -341 $84 $3,104,325 4 Lionsgate
Chaos Walking $57,500 -46% 502 -569 $115 $13,238,377 9 Lionsgate
In the Earth $54,400 -74% 215 -356 $253 $958,150 3 Neon
The War with Grandpa $9,560 -63% 150 -45 $64 $21,189,473 30 101 Studios
Gunda $6,300 -20% 15 5 $420 $57,480 21 Neon
Images courtesy of Funimation/Warner Bros.