Demon Slayer pulls $354M

Anime was one of the clearest bright spots in Sony Pictures’ year — and Demon Slayer was the biggest reason why. Sony’s results for the fiscal year ende(sony.com) movie number was $354 million from *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle*. That was the studio’s top film contribution for the (hollywoodreporter.com)ied to shutting down Pixomondo. (sony.com) ### What actually happened? Sony (hollywoodreporter.com)Inside that, the motion pictures business had a rougher year on paper — revenue there fell 18% to $3.28 billion. Even so, one movie stood out: *Infinity Castle* brought in $354 million for the fiscal period and ranked first among Sony’s film releases. (hollywoodreporter.com) ### Why is the $354 million number important? Because it shows how much one anime title mattered inside a giant Hollywood studio(sony.com)AT* at $183 million, *28 Years Later* at $151 million, and *Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc* at $118 million. In other words, the gap between first and second place was huge — *Demon Slayer* nearly doubled the next title. (hollywoodreporter.com) ### Is that the movie’s full box office? No — and this is th(hollywoodreporter.com)fetime total. During its full theatrical run, *Infinity Castle* went much higher. By September 2025 it had already passed $555 million worldwide, and by November it had reached $730 million worldwide after opening in China. Sony’s own year-end framing also notes the movie finished above $740 million worldwide. (hollywoodreporter.com)unusual anime machine. It owns Aniplex, controls Crunchyroll, and has theatrical distribution muscle through Sony Pictures. That means Sony isn’t just licensing anime — it can help finance, market, distribute, and then keep monetizing the audience through streaming and merch. Rahul Purini, Crunchyroll’s CEO, said last year that *Infinity Castle* proved “how big anime has become,” which sounds obvious now but is really the business point here. (hollywoodreporter.com)Sony’s top four film performers in the fiscal period were animated: *Demon Slayer*, *GOAT*, and *Chainsaw Man*. That matters because it suggests this wasn’t a one-off fluke from one fandom event. Sony’s own results framed animation — and especially Japanese anime — as a real strength inside the slate. (hollywoodreporter.com) ### So why did Pictures profit still fall? Pixomondo. Sony shut down the visual ef(hollywoodreporter.com)r without that charge. Strip out the Pixomondo impairment, and Sony Pictures’ fiscal-year profit actually rose 11% to $858 million. Basically, the anime win was real — it just got partially buried by restructuring costs. (hollywoodreporter.com) ### What(hollywoodreporter.com)ony Pictures’ biggest film contributor in the year and another proof point that anime can anchor a global studio slate, not just fill a niche release window. The bottom line is simple: Sony’s earnings showed that anime is no longer support revenue. In this cycle, it was the main event. (hollywoodreporter.com)