"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle" has officially become the highest-grossing film in South Korea for 2025, marking a historic milestone as the first animated movie to achieve this distinction in the country's cinema history. The latest installment in the popular Japanese animation franchise reached this landmark achievement by attracting 5.638 million moviegoers as of Friday, according to its distributor Animax Broadcasting Korea.
The film narrowly surpassed the previous box office leader "Zombie Daughter," which had held the top position with 5.637 million admissions. This achievement represents a groundbreaking moment for the South Korean film industry, as no animated title has ever topped the country's annual box office rankings before. While foreign animated films have previously achieved remarkable commercial success in South Korea, including "Frozen 2," which sold an impressive 13.36 million tickets in 2019, none had managed to claim the number one position for an entire year.
The movie is based on the widely popular comic and television animation series of the same name and serves as the first installment of an ambitious three-part finale planned for the beloved franchise. This strategic release approach has generated significant anticipation among fans who have been following the series' journey from its manga origins to its animated adaptations.
Since its theatrical release in South Korea on August 22, "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle" has demonstrated exceptional commercial performance, breaking multiple records along the way. The film achieved the remarkable feat of reaching one million viewers within just two days of its opening, showcasing the strong fan base and broad appeal of the franchise in the Korean market. Even more impressively, the movie surpassed the three million viewer milestone on its tenth day of screening, establishing the fastest pace among all films released throughout 2025.
