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Crunchyroll's head of theatrical breaks down anime's big moment: 'It's not a fad.' How Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle became a bonafide blockbuster and the bigge

Crunchyroll's head of theatrical breaks down anime's big moment: 'It's not a fad.'

How Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle became a bonafide blockbuster and the biggest anime of all time

Crunchyroll's head of theatrical breaks down anime's big moment: 'It's not a fad.'

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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September 24, 2025 3:00 p.m. ET

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'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle'. Credit:

Koyoharu Gotoge _ SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

- Mitchel Berger, head of theatrical of the anime hub Crunchyroll, breaks down the record-breaking success of *Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle*.

- Anime is "not a fad," he declares after the movie surpassed even *Superman*'s global box office.

- Berger also teases the next two installments of this *Demon Slayer* movie trilogy and, yes, popcorn buckets. "Stay tuned," he says.

Just over a week ago, Mitchel Berger, the head of theatrical of Sony-owned anime streaming service Crunchyroll, received some unexpected calls. Friends of his in Hollywood, whom he's known for years, rang to ask, "What is going on with this *Demon Slayer* thing?"

*Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle* is the latest entry in the anime juggernaut based on the popular manga, which includes the *Kimetsu no Yaiba* TV series and a number of interconnected movies. Announced in 2024 in Japan as the first of a new trilogy of films, *Infinity Castle* opened in Japanese theaters on July 18, followed by select Asian countries in August, and an expanded release in September, including in the U.S., from Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Releasing.

With that wider release, beginning Sep. 12, it quickly broke box-office records. Let's put it this way: Since 2000, more than 100 anime movies have opened in theaters. Until now, none of those made it to the $50 million marker in America, but *Demon Hunter: Infinity Castle* went further to rake in $104.7 million domestically to date.

It's also the highest-grossing anime movie ever, including in the U.S., where anime has long been considered niche. According to Comscore, *Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle* even surpassed *Superman*'s global total with $665.8 million. At a time when there are a lot of anxieties running through Hollywood about the future of the theatrical moviegoing experience, people are taking notice.

"What I think it really speaks to is allowing fans to show people how important this is," Berger tells **. "Everybody was talking about *Demon Slayer*. It wasn't just a subset of anime fans. The accolades and the records are wonderful, but the validation for the fans to have that moment in pop culture was the real victory for us."

Tanjiro Kamado in 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle'.

Koyoharu Gotoge _ SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

The anime follows the missions of the Demon Slayer Corps., an organization dedicated to hunting and killing demons in Japan. Tanjiro Kamado (voiced in the original Japanese by Natsuki Hanae and voiced in the English dub by Zach Aguilar) is one of the core characters. He joined the Corps. after his younger sister, Nezuko (Akari Kitō in the Japanese, Abby Trott in the English dub), was turned into a demon.

In the movie, Tanjiro and his fellow demon slayers find themselves brought to the Infinity Castle, the stronghold for these malevolent entities. It becomes the setting for the final battle between the Corps. and the demons.

'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle' topples 'The Conjuring: Last Rites,' sets new box office record

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The way audiences embraced *Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle* continues a trend we've seen lately from animation. The biggest movie of 2025 to date is one most people in America haven't seen or even heard of. *Ne Zha 2*, the Chinese film and sequel to the 2019 animated fantasy adventure, grossed more than $2.2 billion, way above Disney's live-action *Lilo & Stitch*, the second runner-up which hit just over $1.3 billion globally.

And let's not forget *KPop Demon Hunters*, the worldwide Netflix sensation about a k-pop girl group that moonlights as demon killers. Though Netflix streaming numbers do not translate to box-office dollars, it's at the very least giving *Ne Zha 2* a run for its money in terms of cultural impact. It's Netflix's biggest movie of all time with a Billboard chart-topping musical soundtrack.

For Berger, however, now feels like a turning point for anime in particular, one that has been building for some time.

"I think it's both the theatrical release itself and the fandom itself," he explains. "From a theatrical perspective, one of the things about *Demon Slayer* specifically is it feels cinematic. It is a big story that needs to be told on a big screen, and I think that fans are responding to that. The deeper issue is that young fan base — Gen Z, Gen Alphas, and the Millennials to some degree — anime is just an intrinsic part of their personality."

Giyu Tomioka (Johnny Yong Bosch) in 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle'.

Koyoharu Gotoge/Sony Pictures

It's important to note the I.P. itself. *Demon Slayer* is one of the more popular animes around the globe, so it doesn't take much in terms of marketing to get folks to seek out those titles. But Berger is right. A study released in January 2024 by Polygon reported that 42 percent of Gen Z watch anime weekly and 56 percent watch it at least once a month, compared to Millennials, 25 percent of which watch weekly and 41 percent of which watch at least once a month.

"What we found out is anime is how those generations consume media. It's not a fad," Berger continues. "It's also a part of how they express themselves. They tell us that it helps define their life."

Compared to other major studios in Hollywood these days, Crunchyroll and Sony also have a different strategy in terms of streaming. Take *Superman*, which made more than $615 million worldwide and hit digital retail platforms a month after release. Not so with *Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle*. Berger reiterates a statement that received some news play earlier this week, which is that the movie won't come to streaming until next year at the earliest.

"The only way you can see this film in 2025 is in the theater, absolutely," he says. "So if you want to see it, go see it in the theater." Berger clarifies, "It will come to the home. It will be there, and you'll have your opportunities to buy it digitally and on physical media and streaming, all those things will come down the line. But for right now, the focus should be go see it with a group of folks in the cinema because that is the way it was built to be experienced."

Fans are now no doubt wondering what the current state is for the next two movies in this planned trilogy. Dates haven't officially been announced, but Berger teases they "are going to be the same high quality, the same high stakes, the same kind of massive theatrical experience."

Zenitsu Agatsuma (Aleks Le) in 'Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle'.

Koyoharu Gotoge _ SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable

"If the first one is any indication, and we know that the storyline culminates in a very big way, if you've read the manga, it's going to be a really cool ride," he remarks.

All signs are pointing to a longer theatrical shelf life for *Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle*, but Crunchyroll is turning their attention to other movie theater events coming up. *Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc*, which Berger describes as having a "Quentin Tarantino does anime" vibe, will release in the U.S. on Oct. 24.

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The streamer is also planning for Anime Nights. Starting in October, various movie theater chains will host an anime movie screening every third Monday of the month, starting with *Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid* on Oct. 20. The Dec. 15 screening will be a special sneak peek at upcoming Crunchyroll anime series before they come to streaming.

While it's unclear if *Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle*'s success can be replicated with these next releases, Berger is focused on bettering the moviegoing experience to ensure these younger generations keep coming back to theaters. Yes, popcorn buckets are on his mind.

"We are going to lean into more of that, hopefully in the future, because I know anime fans love to collect," he says. "So stay tuned. There's going to be some stuff hopefully coming down the pike."

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