Everyone expected Demon Slayer’s 2025 movie hit, Infinity Castle Part 1: Akaza’s Return, to do incredibly well at the Box Office. However, not all expected it to dominate the charts and surpass its predecessor, Mugen Train.
With the incredible hype generated by Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 since its 2025 premiere, fans all over the world have been looking forward to the release of its continuation, known as Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2, which is set to pick up the raid from where it last left off. While we still don’t have an official release date for Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2, the movie is strongly teased for a 2027 debut, alongside another highly anticipated movie, Solo Leveling: Beyond the System. Demon Slayer is almost guaranteed to top the charts, but it will not do so without heavy competition from the new rising Solo Leveling franchise.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2 Predicted To Be 2027’s Biggest Anime Hit
Demon Slayer originally debuted as a manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump, created by author Koyoharu Gotouge. Demon Slayer was always popular, but its true breakthrough came in 2019, when the series was picked up by popular animation studio Ufotable. This studio went on to take Demon Slayer from an average shonen to a global sensation, first with the TV anime, and then, more importantly, with theatrical movie releases.
Demon Slayer: Mugen Train was the first real breakthrough for the franchise in theaters, and it was, for a few years, Japan’s highest-grossing movie of all time, surpassing even the likes of Ghibli movies like Spirited Away. Mugen Train’s record, however, has now been broken, and to no one’s surprise, the one that surpassed Mugen Train was none other than Demon Slayer’s newest movie, titled Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 currently sits at over 700 million at the Global Box Office. Its success has been like nothing ever seen before for a Japanese movie globally, and it also made it Japan’s biggest 2025 hit. Now, almost a year since the movie’s release, we’re expecting its sequel to continue with the Infinity Castle Saga in the form of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2. Right now, this movie is projected to be released sometime in 2027, albeit with no conclusive release date yet. Because of Demon Slayer’s history and its no-fail pattern with movies, it’s almost a guarantee that Infinity Castle Part 2 is going to be Japan’s next biggest hit. More than likely, it’ll also be 2027’s biggest anime release. Box Office-wise, it seems that Demon Slayer is unbeatable in Japan, but that doesn’t mean that the series is not going to face any heavy competitors next year.
Demon Slayer Set To Face Competition From New Anime Hit Solo Leveling: Beyond the System
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2 is going to continue overperforming at both the Japanese and the Global Box Office. The series has simply become too big to fail, and fans are eager to see how the story continues with the next movie and what big battles will unfold.
With that being said, 2027 will be Demon Slayer’s hardest year. This is because we’re expecting the release of one of the most ambitious anime movies of all time in Solo Leveling: Beyond the System. What’s more interesting is that Solo Leveling’s own project was inspired directly by Infinity Castle. As an anime, Solo Leveling was first adapted by Aniplex and A1 Pictures in 2024, bringing the story of Chugong and Dubu’s art to life. The anime immediately became incredibly successful, both in Japan and especially abroad. Today, Solo Leveling even surpasses Demon Slayer on the largest anime platform overseas, which is Crunchyroll.
Based on the trailer and what we’ve seen so far from Solo Leveling: Beyond the System, which was first unveiled on July 4, 2026, during Anime Expo, this movie is set up to be nothing short of amazing. It’s clear that, just like Ufotable is going all out for Demon Slayer, Aniplex and A-1 Pictures are putting their all into this movie. In other words, Solo Leveling: Beyond the System is going to be a massive breakthrough for the franchise. While it’s unclear if it’s going to be able to surpass Demon Slayer at the box office, it definitely has a shot with international fans who have poured their love into this series and made it a global phenomenon.
Both Demon Slayer and Solo Leveling stand out with their high-octane battles and fast-paced action, and we’ll have to wait and see which of the two comes out on top next year. It’s especially going to be interesting to see how Demon Slayer’s first big movie without Akaza performs, as both the Mugen Train and Infinity Castle featured him as the central antagonist. Now, with his death, things could definitely shift.
Demon Slayer and Solo Leveling Movies Release Dates And What To Expect
At the moment, neither Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2 nor Solo Leveling: Beyond the System have a concrete release date. For Solo Leveling, the project was unveiled during Anime Expo 2026, and it was teased with a 2027 release date. This seems more likely when taking into account the investment report from D&C Media, which indicated Solo Leveling’s next project would be coming out between 2027 and 2028. While Solo Leveling: Beyond the System could potentially be delayed to 2028, for now, all information points to a 2027 release.
Meanwhile, for Demon Slayer, we have even less information. Technically, Ufotable has never officially announced that Infinity Castle Part 2 is releasing in 2027. However, it’s almost inconceivable to see the studio skip over 2 years with no new release. Fan hype is still high, and Ufotable definitely wants to capitalize on that for maximum profit. What’s more, in September 2026, a listing from Sony indicated a new anime movie releasing on September 17, 2027, domestically in Japan. Demon Slayer, being distributed by Sony, could definitely be this new movie in question. More information is set to be revealed at Jump Festa 2027, one of the biggest anime and manga events of the year. As the series is featured during Super Stage, a big announcement is on the way, which fans can tune in to see on December 19, 2026.
Demon Slayer has 4 TV anime seasons and 3 movies, while Solo Leveling has 2 anime seasons out right now. Both series are available to stream on Crunchyroll, the world’s biggest anime platform.