The past few weeks in the movie industry have been bustling after a long silence, with movie theaters opening up, people getting out more, and the premier of productions that have been postponed for months.

     Two of said movies include the titles of Mortal Kombat, a beloved video game franchise getting a movie reboot after over 20 years, and Demon Slayer, a movie adaptation of the most popular Japanese anime of 2020. Fans have been awaiting both of these, and so the box office battle begins. 

     Mortal Kombat came out last month on April 23 in the United States, being one of the first reasons in 2021 to return to the movie theater, besides the previous Godzilla vs. Kong. It premiered to $22.5 million across about 3,000 venues (variety.com). 

     The movie received mixed reviews, receiving only 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, but 84% of Google users enjoyed it. Some claim it broke the video game adaptation curse, a term coined for all of the failed attempts studios made previously, such as Super Mario Bros, Sonic, and so on. However, others believe the plot left something to be desired or it  “feels like a fan-made prequel” (Firstpost). Nonetheless, it still gained huge crowds outside open theaters, which at this point is only 55% of all theaters in the country. 

     That same day, April 23, the Demon Slayer movie came out to the U.S. and Canada. Its overwhelming success earned 19.5 million over that weekend, closely rivaling Mortal Kombat, but not quite surpassing it. It broke records in the world of theater as well, becoming the “biggest domestic debut of all time for a foreign language film” (Hollywoodreporter.com). 

     Junior Bella Silvestri, who saw the movie the weekend after the premiere, comments about the turnout at the Horizon theater she went to. “The theater was nearly empty, we had almost the whole room to ourselves,” she says, which is likely due to the crowd limitations for COVID safety.

     When it comes to the film itself, Silvestri notes the production’s high quality: “I saw the English dub version and there was so much raw emotion in their voices. It was heartbreaking honestly. The animation was spectacular as well with so much background detail.” She recommends the movie and believes it deserves the records it’s set. 

     Since the premiere weekend, Demon Slayer quickly rose to the top, setting box office records globally. It has become the highest-grossing anime film worldwide, amounting to $423 million, whereas Mortal Kombat is down at a global $66.9 million.