"Fantastic Beats: The Secrets of Dumbledore" (April 15) - Warner Bros.' "Fantastic Beasts" franchise started out fine enough in 2016 when the first movie earned $814 million worldwide. Families returning to theaters could be the biggest factor in whether the studio gets one. With its biggest movies delayed during the pandemic aside from "A Quiet Place Part II," Paramount needs a win at the box office. It grossed $149 million domestically and $319 million worldwide off of an $85 million production budget. "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" (April 8) - The first "Sonic" movie was one of the few box-office hits to open in early 2020 before theaters shut down due to the pandemic. Sony hopes "Morbius" can continue the streak after being delayed numerous times. And of course there's "No Way Home," a joint production with Marvel Studios. The first "Venom" in 2018 was a surprise hit, earning more than $800 million worldwide. Sony's Marvel film universe has been a hot streak lately, with "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" grossing more than $200 million domestically amid the pandemic, one of three movies to do so last year. One of those is Morbius, a vampire being who is a villain of Spider-Man in the comics. "Morbius" (April 1) - Because it owns the film rights to Spider-Man, Sony owns the film rights to hundreds of Spider-Man-related Marvel characters.
The latest was also from Sony: "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" earned just $31 million worldwide.
"Uncharted" (February 18) - Sony's adaptation of the hit video-game series stars Spider-Man himself Tom Holland, but his star appeal didn't help last year's massive box-office flop "Chaos Walking." "Uncharted" has the benefit of franchise recognition, but video-game movies have a long history of bombing both critically and commercially. And "Scream 4" ultimately earned just $38 million domestically, a sign that the franchise may have already lost its appeal more than a decade ago. Horror movies have largely performed well during the pandemic, but no other movies are really seeing the benefits of "Spider-Man: No Way Home's" dominance right now. The last movie in the horror franchise, "Scream 4," earned $18 million domestically in its opening weekend. "Scream" (January 14) - As of now, Paramount is moving forward with releasing its "Scream" reboot next weekend only to theaters. But there are still major releases coming to theaters that have yet to be postponed: That will still be the case this year, even moreso amid the pandemic. The Lines That Define Me Vol.The early months of any year are typically slow at the box office (save for breakout hits in recent years like "Black Panther" or "Get Out").DC's Batman: The Knight #1 Comic Review.Marvel's Devil's Reign: Villains for Hire #1 Comic Review.Sasaki and Miyano: Miyano's BL Interest Is Getting In the Way of the Romance.Attack on Titan: The Final Season Part 2 Art Looks Back at Happier Times.One Piece: The Weirdest Creatures Luffy Invited to Join the Straw Hat Pirates.One Piece: How Did Luffy Defeat Charlotte Katakuri?.One Piece, Bleach Collections Headline the Launch of Shonen Jump's US Shop.Five Unmistakable Signs of a Deredere Anime Character.Mamoru Hosoda on How He Built Belle's Metaverse.Gintama Movie Gets North American Premiere Dates.Every Demon Slayer Sword Color Means Something - But Does One Rule Them All?.Demon Slayer Season 2 Trailer Showcases New Content from Each Arc.The samurai fight hard against the invaders but are betrayed by the shōgun, who capitulates to the aliens, forcing the samurai to lay down their swords while turning the government into their puppets. Things change from established history when an alien force, called the Amanto, comes down from the sky. Written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, the series is set in an alternative history version of the late-Edo period of Japanese history. Gintama: The Very Final is the latest film in the long-running Gintama franchise, which launched in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 2003. Related: Demon Slayer Season 2 Trailer Showcases New Content from Each Arc
And when you look into the franchise's history, it actually makes a lot of sense that this Gintama film beat out Mugen Train.
While not as much as Demon Slayer, this is no mean feat. Overall, Gintama: The Very Final made over ¥1.8 billion during its box office run. When this film was released on January 8th, 2021, it quickly rose to the top spot, knocking Demon Slayer to number two. After 12 weeks of box office dominance, Demon Slayer was finally toppled by Gintama: The Very Final.