Dandadan: Evil Eye, the second film in the series, continues to impress at the North American box office. The film opened in US cinemas on June 6th, quickly surpassing the opening box office numbers for the first Dandadan film, First Encounters, which only made $1 million at opening weekend. Contrastingly, Evil Eye tripled the box office totals with a $3 million opening weekend. Dandadan’s new movie dropped from the top ten in its second weekend, but still earned $644,631, pushing its US box office totals to $5 million. While $5 million is relatively small compared to big Hollywood blockbusters, it’s an impressive amount considering the budget and scale of what is in this case a compilation film.
Dandadan: Evil Eye’s larger box office opening highlights how much the brand has grown since premiering in North America on Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. The show has become one of Netflix’s most-watched anime, transforming into one of the biggest anime franchises in 2024. GKIDS Films handles the theatrical distribution of both Dandadan films. First Encounters is a compilation film that covers the first three episodes of Season One, whereas Evil Eye covers the first three episodes of Season Two. Both motion pictures opened before the launch of their respective seasons, acting as prologues leading into the series.
What is Dandadan: Evil Eye About?
The Dandadan: Evil Eye film adapts the arc of the same name from the manga. The movie continues where Season One ended, with Momo trapped in a hot spring with creepy men while Okarun and Jiji find a hidden room filled with talismans. Evil Eye is not an ideal starting point if you have not seen all of Season One. The high point of the movie is the fight between a possessed Okarun versus a possessed Jiji, who is under the control of the Evil Eye spirit. GKIDS Films released it with an English Dub with all the actors from the show returning, including Abby Trott as Momo, A.J. Beckles as Okarun, and Kari Wahlgren as Seiko.
Anime has become one of the most popular media on streaming, and 2025 is expected to be the biggest year for the medium yet. Films based on anime shows didn’t have a full theatrical release in the West over ten years ago. However, the massive success of several high-profile anime movies has given companies the confidence to release these motion pictures. Five million USD at the US box office may not seem a lot, but Evil Eye was mostly using animation being made for the second season. The cost of the film was already built into the show’s budget. The creators primarily only re-edited the episodes together and added some extra animation. That makes compilation films like Evil Eye relatively lower investment with high potential to reach a profit.
Furthermore, giving these anime movies a wide release serves as great marketing for the upcoming show. These movies make more people aware of the series, offering more potential eyeballs to watch the show when it releases, raising the streaming numbers and views. Moreover, most anime projects don’t make a profit through watch time or box office numbers. They make money through merchandising. As long as the key fanbase continues to support a brand, then it will always be worth releasing films in theaters.
H/T: Box Office Mojo
