Last week BAFTA announced the longlist nominations for the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2026 ahead of the annual ceremony in February. What you might have missed is that box office smash-hit anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle snuck its way on to the list for Best Animated Film.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, produced by ufotable and distributed by Aniplex, Crunchyroll, and Sony PicturesReleasing International, was recently nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture – Animated category.
Released in the UK on 12th September, the film earned over$793 million at the worldwide box office making it the highest-grossing Japanese film and 5th highest-grossing non-English film of all time, as well as the 7th highest-grossing film of 2025, ahead of Superman, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Captain America: Brave New World.
In the UK Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle delivered a £3.4m box office in its opening weekend, breaking the record for highest earning for an anime film in the UK & Ireland. The film opened across nearly 500 screens with an average of £7K per screen making it the highest earning film in the UK & Ireland, per screen average, for its opening weekend.
Before the end of the year it also became the highest-ever grossing international film in North America and holds a 98% Fresh critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle, is the first feature film in the three-part cinematic trilogy that will cover the final chapters of the story.
The BAFTA 2026 ceremony will take place on Sunday 22nd February at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
