Godzilla Minus Zero Roars to $31.6M and Leaves Hero's Record in Rubble
Tokyo was not available for comment. It was busy rebuilding.
It's official. Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $31.6 million from 3,254 theaters in North America this weekend, which makes it the biggest debut ever for a live-action foreign-language film, according to Variety.
That smashes the old record held by Hero, the martial arts epic that opened to $17.8 million. On Friday it looked like this was coming, and we covered those early numbers yesterday. Now the full weekend is in, and it's even better.
How big was Godzilla Minus Zero's opening weekend?
Huge, especially on giant screens. Variety reports that Minus Zero is the first Japanese production ever filmed for IMAX, and IMAX alone brought in $12.7 million, about 40% of the domestic total. Premium formats, including Dolby, made up a staggering 74% of ticket sales.
Around the world, the movie earned $63 million this weekend and took the top spot globally, according to Deadline.
How does Minus Zero compare to Godzilla Minus One?
It nearly tripled it. Godzilla Minus One opened to $11.4 million in 2023 and finished with $57 million in North America and $113 million worldwide, plus an Oscar for visual effects (Variety). Minus Zero also has a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore, which usually means strong word of mouth.
"We're so happy to see audiences embrace 'Godzilla Minus Zero' at an unprecedented scale for an international film," said Chance Huskey, VP of distribution for GKIDS, which released the movie in the US for Toho.
How did The Cat in the Hat do?
Not great. Warner Bros.' animated The Cat in the Hat opened in second place with $20 million from 4,003 locations. That's a soft start for a film with a reported $92 million budget, though its A CinemaScore could help it hold up over the holidays (Variety).
The whole weekend was strong for theaters, though. All films combined earned $114 million, up 86% from the same weekend last year, and the Indian epic Ramayana: Rise of a Legend added $8.6 million in its debut.
My read is that this is a massive moment for international movies in theaters. Fans showed up for a subtitled kaiju film and picked the biggest screens they could find, which says a lot about how good this series has become. Director Takashi Yamazaki has said a third film is a "fifty-fifty" chance, and our story on his comments has more. After a weekend like this, Toho has to be leaning toward yes. (Godzilla Minus Negative, anyone?)
Did you see Godzilla Minus Zero this weekend? Tell us in the comments.
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