Godzilla Minus Zero stomped to an estimated $31.61 million across 3,254 theaters in the US and Canada this weekend, the largest opening ever recorded there for a live-action film not in English.
The Japanese monster sequel, released in North America by the specialty distributor GKIDS, beat a Dr. Seuss cartoon from a major Hollywood studio by more than $11 million. Warner Bros.’ animated The Cat in the Hat opened second with $20.5 million from 4,003 theaters.
“We’re so happy to see audiences embrace Godzilla Minus Zero at an unprecedented scale for an international film,” Chance Huskey, GKIDS’ vice president of distribution, said in a statement on Sunday.
All figures are studio estimates for Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8. Final counts usually follow on Monday and can shift by a few hundred thousand dollars.
How big the record is
The previous high mark for a foreign-language live-action opening was the $17.8 million earned by the Chinese martial arts epic Hero in 2004, according to industry tracking figures. Minus Zero cleared that by roughly 78%.
It also dwarfed its own predecessor. Godzilla Minus One opened to $11.4 million in North America in 2023 and finished its run at $57.1 million, on the same tracking figures. The arithmetic: $31.61 million divided by $11.4 million is 2.8, so the sequel opened nearly three times bigger, and its first three days already equal about 55% of everything the earlier film made in the market ($31.61 million divided by $57.1 million).
The weekend was front-loaded. Friday brought in $14.6 million, a figure that folds in Thursday night previews, then Saturday slid to $9.45 million and Sunday to $7.56 million. That shape is typical of a fan-driven release, where the keenest viewers turn up first.
The IMAX factor
Director Takashi Yamazaki, who also wrote the film and supervised its visual effects, shot it for IMAX, a first for a Japanese production. It paid off: IMAX auditoriums supplied $12.7 million of the North American opening from just 429 screens.
Run the numbers and the premium format’s pull is plain. $12.7 million across 429 screens is about $29,600 per screen, roughly three times the $9,714 the film averaged per theater overall. Put another way, about 13% of the screen count produced 40% of the money.
The film is set in 1949 and pits Godzilla against the three-headed King Ghidorah. It premiered at the New York Film Festival on September 26 and reached Japanese cinemas on November 3. Its worldwide total stands at about $63 million.
The rest of the chart
The Cat in the Hat, with Bill Hader voicing the title character, drew an A grade from opening-night audiences but still posted the smallest debut of any theatrical Dr. Seuss feature, according to the same tracking figures. The 2003 live-action version opened to $38.3 million.
Five new films landed in the top eight. The order, by estimated three-day gross:
- Godzilla Minus Zero (GKIDS): $31.61 million
- The Cat in the Hat (Warner Bros.): $20.5 million
- Drummer Boy (Angel Studios): $9.31 million
- You Can See Everything (A24): $8.86 million, for $79.8 million after four weekends
- Ramayana: Rise of a Legend (Sony): $8.65 million from 1,433 theaters
Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine opened to $6 million from only 1,100 theaters for Searchlight. Clayface, which opened at No. 1 two weeks ago, added $6.68 million in its third weekend to reach $56.6 million. Trackers disagree on whether it or the animated Wildwood finished sixth, with Wildwood estimated at between $6.6 million and $7 million.
All films combined grossed about $121.7 million over the three days. The two biggest newcomers accounted for $52.1 million of that, or 43%.
Godzilla gets one more quiet stretch before the next wave. Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, November 11, and three new wide releases are scheduled for Friday, November 13, led by Paramount’s Ebenezer with Johnny Depp.
Further reading
Image: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
