In a surprising fight with ‘Demon Slayer,’ ‘Mortal Kombat’ wins with $22.5 million.

The weekend box office saw a heated — and surprising — fight between Mortal Kombat and Japanese anime film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, reflecting the cooped demand to see new movies on the big screen.

Mortal Kombat by Warner Bros. won the North American box office with $22.5 million from 3,073 locations, followed by Demon Slayer by Fumination with an estimated $19.5 million from 1,605 locations. That is by far the biggest domestic debut for a foreign-language film in history. Following the massive box office success of Godzilla vs. Kong, the successful opening of both films was more positive news as Hollywood and theatres continue to recover from the pandemic.

Mortal Kombat, based on the blockbuster video game, premiered on HBO Max this weekend, along with all other 2021 games. Males (69%) and culturally mixed viewers (66%) were the driving forces behind Mortal Kombat and Demon Slayer, respectively. Demon Slayer has the added benefit of playing to families.