That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is still doing solid cinema business overseas, with its second anime film, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Tears of the Azure Sea, landing at #9 at the U.S. box office on opening weekend.
The film played in 837 theaters and made US$1 million across its first three days. Its weekend breakdown was US$420,000 on Friday, US$320,000 on Saturday, and US$260,000 on Sunday.
For a franchise anime film that is not exactly a mainstream Hollywood title, cracking the U.S. top 10 is still a pretty respectable sign. Slime has always been one of those isekai series with a loyal fanbase rather than casual-only hype, so this result shows Rimuru and gang still have pull outside Japan.
Why SEA fans should pay attention
Crunchyroll holds the worldwide theatrical rights for Tears of the Azure Sea, and opened the movie in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Ireland on Friday. The source does not list Malaysia or other SEA release details, so don’t go booking your cinema gang outing just yet. But for Malaysian fans, this is still worth watching because Crunchyroll’s global handling usually matters for how quickly anime films move between theatrical windows and later digital availability.
Basically: if the film keeps showing there is demand overseas, it strengthens the case for more anime films getting proper regional treatment instead of SEA fans having to wait forever. We’ve already seen anime cinema events become a proper thing here, especially when Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, One Piece, and Studio Ghibli screenings pull in both hardcore fans and casual moviegoers.
What the new Slime movie is about
Tears of the Azure Sea takes place after the celebration for the founding of the Tempest Federation. Rimuru and several senior Tempest officials are invited by Elmesia, the ruler of Sarion’s elf nation, for a resort island holiday.
Of course, this is anime, so the vacation cannot just be makan, beach vibes, and chill. A mysterious girl named Yura appears, and a darker threat begins to surface, pulling Rimuru into another conflict.
The music side also has a few notable names. TRUE performs the theme song “Utopia”, while Saori Ōnishi, who voices Yura, sings the insert song “Sōkoku”. ARCANA PROJECT contributes “Renainō”, and STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION teams up with ASH from ASH DA HERO for “Harmonics.”
In Japan, the film opened on February 27 and started at #3 during its opening weekend. It sold 225,000 tickets and earned 301,175,600 yen, around US$1.91 million, in its first three days.
Mario and Ghibli are also still moving tickets
The same box office report also shows how strong anime-adjacent and game-related films are right now. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is still huge, ranking at #2 after its third weekend with a total of US$402,676,935. It screened in 3,419 theaters, earning US$2.75 million on Friday, US$5.63 million on Saturday, and US$3.72 million on Sunday.
The film previously opened at #1 in North America with an estimated US$190,053,455 across its first five days, and reached about US$372.5 million worldwide in that same five-day period.
Studio Ghibli also continues to show its staying power. The 4K restoration of Whisper of the Heart has passed US$380,492 after two weekends, while the 4K restoration of Kiki’s Delivery Service has reached US$2,664,947 after six weeks.
For Malaysia and SEA, the bigger takeaway is simple: anime, game films, and nostalgic Japanese animation are no longer niche cinema fillers. They are reliable event movies now. If distributors keep seeing numbers like this, we should hopefully get more screenings, faster release windows, and less FOMO.
Source: Anime News Network