‘Chainsaw Man’ Snatches No. 1 From ‘Black Phone 2’ With $15.5 Million Opening

For the second time in seven weekends, a Crunchyroll anime release is topping the box office charts as “Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc” has edged out “Black Phone 2” and several other new releases to top the charts with $8.5 million grossed on Friday and an estimated $15.5 million opening weekend from 3,003 locations.

The R-rated anime action film has left its fans buzzing with excitement, earning the sort of scores usually reserved for faith-based films including an A on CinemaScore, 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and 5/5 on PostTrak.

While that’s not likely to lead to long legs given its status as a franchise anime film, “Chainsaw Man” is another example of how Sony and Crunchyroll have successfully developed their anime theatrical distribution strategy, attracting fans of various franchises to theaters for a communal experience.

This opening weekend ranks among the top 10 for anime films and is the third highest for an R-rated anime film behind only last month’s all-time record $70.6 million start for “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” and the $21.2 million opening of “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” in spring 2021.

In second is Paramount/Constantin’s “Regretting You,” the latest adaptation of a Colleen Hoover novel to hit theaters, with an estimated $13 million opening weekend including $5.2 million on Friday. That edges the $12 million second weekend for Universal/Blumhouse’s “Black Phone 2,” which is humming along with a $48 million 10-day domestic total.

It’s a decent start for the $30 million Constantin production, but reception is not as strong as last year’s breakout Hoover film “It Ends With Us,” which opened to $24 million. “Regretting You” has received a B on CinemaScore to go with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 30% critics and 90% audience.

More to come…