Madoka Magica New Film Breaks Box Office Records

Madoka Magica fans waited 13 years for a new movie, and the box office says the wait was worth it. Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Walpurgisnacht Rising has passed 2.1 billion yen at the Japanese box office, drawing more than 1.26 million moviegoers, according to Anime.com. The milestone puts the film above the lifetime total of its direct predecessor, 2013's Rebellion — a record that stood for the better part of a decade and a half. The announcement came from the franchise's official X account on September 24, less than a month after the film opened.

The speed of the run is what makes it remarkable. The film opened in Japan on August 28, 2026, across 292 locations with IMAX and Dolby Atmos screenings included, as reported by AniTrendz, and it crossed the billion-yen mark in its first four days while topping the opening weekend in both admissions and revenue. Attendance hit 900,000 tickets sold by the ten-day mark, with the reported gross at 1.53 billion yen, and crossed one million moviegoers on September 14. Then, on October 3, theaters in Japan began 4DX and MX4D screenings — the motion-seat formats that studios use to pull repeat viewers back in. Stack that against Rebellion, which opened in only 129 locations and needed its full theatrical run to finish at roughly two billion yen, according to Anime.com. The new film beat that total in under a month.

The long road to opening night

This was not a quick sequel. The project was first announced in April 2021 during the franchise's 10th anniversary event, and it missed its release window three times: first winter 2024, then winter 2025, then February 2026, before finally locking in August 28. Each delay frustrated fans who had been holding out for a resolution to Rebellion's cliffhanger ending, and when the final date was confirmed, the official account "expressed sincere gratitude to fans who have been patiently waiting," as reported by ORICON NEWS. The wait helps explain the turnout: this is the franchise's first new theatrical entry since 2013, and it reunited the original creative team — chief director Akiyuki Shinbo, director Yukihiro Miyamoto, screenwriter Gen Urobuchi, original character designer Ume Aoki, and composer Yuki Kajiura — at studio Shaft.

The film also expanded the cast with new faces. Maaya Sakamoto voices a mysterious figure the production labels WAS, an "unnamed upperclassman" with a face nearly identical to Homura Akemi, while Shion Wakayama and Tomoyo Kurosawa play new magical girls Shichoka and Selma Therese, according to Anime Corner. It was the franchise's first release in IMAX, with IMAX screenings running in 37 countries, as reported by ComicBook.com. A manga adaptation of the film by Hanokage, who also illustrated the original series and Rebellion manga, was announced on opening day, with its first volume arriving September 18.

A record year for anime films

The record lands in the middle of one of the biggest years anime movies have ever had in Japan. The Chiikawa film has become the biggest film of the year there with a cumulative total past 14.6 billion yen, passing Detective Conan's 2026 entry, as reported by Anime News Network — our earlier coverage tracked its English dub streaming free on YouTube. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle I finished a historic theatrical run as the highest-grossing anime film in history globally before landing on streaming, and even the long-running Crayon Shin-chan film series set its own franchise record this summer. What makes the Madoka Magica number special is the kind of record it broke: Rebellion was once the fastest late-night anime-based movie to hit a billion yen, taking eight days in 2013. The sequel needed only four.

So where can you actually watch it? In Japan, the film is still playing in theaters, with the new 4DX and MX4D runs offering the most immersive option. International release dates vary by territory — Taiwan, Hong Kong, and parts of Latin America have screened it, with more dates scheduled through the end of the year. Aniplex's official United States page lists the film as "coming soon" with no theater list or date announced, so American viewers are stuck dodging spoilers for now. If you are catching up before it arrives, the essential homework is the 2011 television series plus Rebellion; the two recap films can substitute for the TV season, but Rebellion's ending is the one you cannot skip. For more on what is happening across the medium, visit our Anime and Animation hub.