Crunchyroll Awards 2026: Film of the Year Nominees Ranked by Box Office—See Who Took the Crown
Crunchyroll trophies can wait—these anime film nominees have already crushed the box office.
Crunchyroll ’s Film of the Year race is a real knife fight this time. We’ve got a couple of box office monsters, one doomed-love bloodbath, and two prestige swings that refused to play the theater game. It ’s a wild mix of spectacle and emotional gut-punches, which makes this category feel actually unpredictable for once. And yes, those quieter contenders 100 Meters and Scarlet are very much lurking without the chest-thumping grosses.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Infinity Castle
Ufotable took the final Demon Slayer arc and, instead of a standard TV season, Aniplex and Toho rolled the dice on a full-blown theatrical trilogy. That gamble paid off like few things ever do. Infinity Castle ripped past $741 million worldwide, then caught a massive tailwind in China with a $52.4 million surge that pushed projections toward $800 million. North America alone chipped in $136.9 million, which is reportedly the biggest U.S. take for an international release since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It even cracked the Golden Globes with a Best Animated Film nomination.
The hook here was almost too perfect for a giant screen: Muzan Kibutsuji yanks the entire Demon Slayer Corps into a reality-warping fortress where gravity is optional and emotional damage is mandatory. Fans were locked in long before opening day, and the movie somehow still outpaced the hype. Part 2 can not come fast enough.
'First movie has earned more than $800 million worldwide. The highest grossing anime and Japanese film in history.' — AniTV, May 17, 2026
Whether you go with the conservative worldwide total, the China-fueled projections, or the fan-bragging milestone above, the point stands: this thing bulldozed theaters.
Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
Expectations were sky-high, and MAPPA still brought back a head on a stick. The Reze Arc slashed to $191.4 million worldwide, with North America tossing in $43.4 million of that, including an $18 million opening that debuted at number one. Sony Pictures and Crunchyroll steered the release; Denji did what Denji does best: chaos, but profitable.
Beneath the gore is a bruising romance between Denji and the shape-shifting enigma Reze, which is exactly why this one sticks. As a bonus stat for the box office scoreboard watchers, the movie leapfrogged Jujutsu Kaisen 0 on the all-time anime theatrical chart. Not bad for a chainsaw love story.
The Rose of Versailles
This one never pretended it would steamroll the multiplex. MAPPA’s elegant historical drama took the prestige route and still made noise: about $1.48 million worldwide after opening at number nine in Japan. Directed by Ai Yoshimura, the film revives Riyoko Ikeda’s legendary shoujo manga with lavish craft and a modern emotional pulse. Marketing even got cute with it: preview images dropped on November 2, the real Marie Antoinette’s birthday, ahead of its Japan premiere on January 31, 2025.
Front and center is Lady Oscar, an aristocrat raised as a man and assigned to protect Marie Antoinette while France slides into revolution. It is less sword-clanging fireworks and more political pressure cooker, identity crisis, and tragedy. After a limited big-screen run, Netflix carried it worldwide, where it quietly gathered awards chatter.
Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II — The Ashes of Rage
No delusions of four-quadrant domination here. This hypnotic, stylized horror entry pulled in about $660,000 globally and doubled down on its own wavelength: paper-texture visuals, an otherworldly mood, and storytelling that refuses to hold your hand. The Medicine Seller investigates a vengeful spirit born from the suffering of women confined in the Ooku of Edo Castle, and the film lets that rage simmer until it burns. Netflix later broadened the haunting to international audiences.
Bottom line: Crunchyroll’s Film of the Year slate runs the whole spectrum from record-chasing juggernauts to uncompromising art-house swings. That balance makes the outcome genuinely tough to call, which is exactly how I like it.
Which one gets your vote?