Chainsaw Man Reze Arc Film Opens at Number 1 in North America

Chainsaw Man: The Movie: Reze Arc opened at number one at the North American box office, bringing in $17.2 million across its opening weekend of October 24 to 26 from 3,003 theaters. It is the second major anime theatrical win for Sony’s distribution arm following the enormous success of Demon Slayer Infinity Castle earlier in the year.

Disney’s weekend did not go nearly as well. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, a musical biopic about Bruce Springsteen directed by Scott Cooper and starring Jeremy Allen White, opened at number four with $9.1 million from 3,460 locations. The Chainsaw Man movie comfortably out-performed the major Hollywood release despite opening in fewer theaters.

The film has performed strongly worldwide. Since its initial release in Japan on September 19, 2025, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc has earned $108 million globally. Industry analyst David A. Gross described it as a worldwide phenomenon, noting that the anime format is finding broad audiences across regions, not just in Asia. The opening weekend crowd was roughly 75 percent male, with half of all viewers under the age of 25. The film holds a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a near-perfect 99 percent audience score.

The movie is produced by MAPPA and is now playing in North American theaters in both subtitled Japanese and English dub formats. The story centers on Denji, who fused with his devil dog Pochita to become Chainsaw Man after being betrayed and killed by the yakuza. In the Reze arc, a mysterious young woman named Reze enters his world and brings him into the most dangerous situation he has faced yet. The next major anime theatrical release is Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, set for a US release on December 5. It compiles the Shibuya Incident arc and includes the first two episodes of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3, which is scheduled to begin rolling out in January 2026.

My take: The Reze arc is one of the most emotionally powerful stretches of the Chainsaw Man manga, and a $17 million opening weekend proves that Western audiences are not just open to anime in theaters, they are genuinely excited about it. This is a great moment for the medium.