Crunchyroll has acquired “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle,” which will debut in theaters globally as a trilogy of films.
The three films will be distributed by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide, excluding some Asian territories and Japan. No release dates have been disclosed.
The three-part cinematic movies represent the final arc and culmination of the hugely popular award-winning anime shonen series.
“’Demon Slayer’ has been a phenomenal franchise, and we at Crunchyroll are delighted to have been a part of it from the beginning,” said Rahul Purini, president of Crunchyroll. “Crunchyroll is thrilled to be able to bring this trilogy of films to fans, on the big screen, and it promises to be one of the truly epic and consequential pop cultural events of our time when it hits theaters.”
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is based on the manga series by Gotoge Koyoharu published under Shueisha’s Jump Comics unit since 2018. It consists of 23 volumes and has sold over 150 million copies.
The story begins when Kamado Tanjiro, a boy whose family is killed by a demon, joins the Demon Slayer Corps to turn his younger sister Nezuko back into a human after she is transformed into a demon.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” first premiered in April 2019 with the “Tanjiro Kamado, Unwavering Resolve Arc,” followed by the feature film “Mugen Train” in October 2020, and the TV series “Mugen Train Arc” and “Entertainment District Arc” from 2021 through 2022. In 2023, the “Swordsmith Village Arc” debuted on Crunchyroll, shortly after the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village” theatrical release.
In 2024, the “Hashira Training Arc” debuted, shortly after the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To Hashira Training” theatrical release. The animation production is by ufotable.
The latest films – “Mugen Train,” “To the Swordsmith Village” and “To the Hashira Training” – have been both commercial and fan successes. “Mugen Train” currently holds the record as the highest-grossing anime movie of all time and is the highest-grossing Japanese film at the global box office, garnering over $500 million to date. It currently ranks as the second-highest grossing anime film in U.S. box office history.
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Sony acquired Crunchyroll in 2021 and merged it with its own anime streaming platform Funimation, but chose to retain the Crunchyroll brand and to develop it as a streaming and theatrical player.
Crunchyroll LLC is an independently-operated joint venture between U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment and Japan’s Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. Ultimately, both are subsidiaries of Tokyo-based Sony Group.
Separately, Sony recently announced that it will launch an academy to further develop anime creative talent.
©Koyoharu Gotoge _ SHUEISHA, Aniplex, ufotable