In an unpredictable fall box office season where both prestige dramas and studio tentpoles have struggled (Tron: Ares, anyone?), Sony/Crunchyroll’s Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc has exploded onto the scene — revving up an estimated $15.5M–$17M opening weekend after an impressive $8.5M Friday.
The Chainsaw Man movie — based on Tatsuki Fujimoto’s hit manga and directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara — earned a rare A CinemaScore, a 99% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and glowing social media buzz. According to Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak, it holds an 82% “definite recommend” rating among audiences.
This marks the ninth anime film ever to open above $10M in North America — a milestone that underscores the growing mainstream power of Japanese animation. Sony, now firmly the leader in theatrical anime through Crunchyroll, continues to build a global franchise pipeline following Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.
Premium formats (IMAX and PLFs) accounted for 58% of the film’s gross, with the strongest turnout across the West, South, and South Central U.S. The film also attracted one of the most diverse demographics of the weekend: 32% Caucasian, 29% Latino/Hispanic, 20% Asian American, and 13% Black audiences.
“This is another win for Sony in a season where anime, horror, and Taylor Swift are driving the business,” one studio insider noted.
The AMC Empire 25 in New York led all theatres, pulling in roughly $45K on Friday alone.
Top 10 Box Office (Saturday Estimates)
- Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc (Sony/Crunchyroll) – $8.5M Fri / $15.5M–$17M 3-day
- Regretting You (Paramount) – $5.2M Fri / $13M 3-day
- The Black Phone 2 (Universal/Blumhouse) – $3.7M Fri (-66%) / $12M weekend (-56%), total $48M
- Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios) – $3.5M Fri / $9M–$10M weekend
- Tron: Ares (Disney) – $1.3M Fri (-57%) / $4.7M weekend (-58%), total $63.1M
- Good Fortune (Lionsgate) – $920K Fri / $3.1M weekend (-49%), total $11.8M
- Shelby Oaks (NEON) – $1.1M Fri / $2.3M weekend
- One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.) – $650K Fri / $2M weekend, total $65.4M
- Roofman (Paramount) – $600K Fri / $1.9M weekend, total $19.2M
- The Mastermind (Mubi) – $350K Fri / $1.2M weekend (+1054%), total $1.3M
Other Highlights
- Regretting You — the Colleen Hoover adaptation starring Madison Iseman — opened solidly in 2nd place with $13M and a B CinemaScore. Female audiences dominated at 83% of ticket buyers, 45% women over 25. The film’s audience skewed diverse: 50% Caucasian, 36% Latino/Hispanic.
- Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, starring Jeremy Allen White as The Boss, struggled to find footing amid the World Series, drawing $9M–$10M with a B+ CinemaScore and older-skewing (59% over 45) audience. Analysts are questioning its October release rather than a Christmas frame, which worked wonders for last year’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.
- The Black Phone 2 remains steady in week two, falling 56% for a $12M frame — a respectable hold for a horror sequel.
- NEON’s Shelby Oaks, the directorial debut of YouTuber Chris Stuckmann, drew $2.3M from 1,823 theaters, with a C+ CinemaScore and a heavily 18–34 male audience (74%).
Total weekend box office receipts are tracking around $75.4M, up 8% from last weekend but down 20% from this time last year, when Venom: The Last Dance opened to $51M.
Industry observers note that the World Series has siphoned off some male viewers — yet anime and female-skewing releases like Regretting You are thriving, proving that targeted, passionate audiences continue to drive the post-strike box office.
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