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Demon Slayer Film Listed With Oscar-Qualifying Run in Theater Near Miami Starting Friday
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
TBS-affiliated Japan News Network service reported on Tuesday that the Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train anime film will have a limited seven-day Oscar-qualifying theatrical run in Miami that will begin this Friday.
The Landmark Theatres chain's Merrick Park location in Coral Gables near Miami listed the film as starting to play on Friday with three daily showtimes.
The Academy Awards typically only allow films that have at least a seven-day theatrical run within Los Angeles County to be eligible for the awards, but the awards announced in April 2020 that, in light of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, it is allowing films to qualify by playing not just in a Los Angeles County theater, but also in a venue in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, or Atlanta.
Funimation and Aniplex of America previously announced that it will screen the film in theaters in North America in early 2021.
Demon Slayer – Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train began screening in 38 IMAX theaters in Japan on October 16. The film had the highest opening weekend globally for the October 16-18 weekend. The film sold 3,424,930 tickets and earned 4,623,117,450 yen (about US$43.85 million) in Japan in its first three days. The film sold 910,507 tickets and earned over 1,268,724,700 yen (about US$12.03 million) on its opening day alone, making it the highest weekday opening day in Japan ever. Mugen Train began holding immersive MX4D and 4DX screenings on Saturday, December 26.
After 12 consecutive weeks at #1 in the box office in Japan, the film dropped to #2 during the January 9-10 weekend, its 13th weekend. The film returned to the #1 spot in its 14th weekend, but was #3 in tickets sold as of the February 20-21 weekend.
The film has surpassed Hayao Miyazaki's 2002 Spirited Away, its last rival for all-time highest earnings in Japanese box office history. (Spirited Away earned 30.8 billion yen in its original run, but has since earned a total of 31.68 billion yen after this summer's revival screenings.) The Demon Slayer film is now also the #1 highest-earning Japanese film of all time worldwide, surpassing Spirited Away.
Sources: TBS News' JNN via Yahoo!, Atom Tickets