The final count is in, and Godzilla gave a little back. Godzilla Minus Zero earned $30,587,672 in the US and Canada over its first three days, November 6 to 8, according to the weekend chart of actual grosses posted on Monday. That is about $1 million less than the $31.61 million estimate studios circulated on Sunday.
The trim changes nothing at the top. The Japanese sequel still finished first, $10.58 million clear of Warner Bros.’ animated The Cat in the Hat, which settled at $20,002,705 from 4,003 theaters. And it still holds the biggest opening ever in North America for a live-action film not in English.
Sunday estimate versus Monday actual
Studios report weekend estimates on Sunday morning, before Sunday ticket sales are fully counted, then file actual figures a day later. Usually the two land close together. Here is the working for this one:
- Estimate: $31,610,000. Actual: $30,587,672. Difference: about $1.02 million, or 3.2% lower.
- Theaters: 3,254, giving an average of $9,400 per location.
- Share of the weekend: the chart lists $115.87 million across 67 titles, so Godzilla took roughly 26.4% of every dollar spent on movie tickets in the two countries.
We first reported the record on Sunday in our story on how Godzilla Minus Zero set the foreign-language live-action opening record, using the estimate. The record survives the revision with room to spare.
How it compares with Minus One
Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 film that won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, opened to about $11 million in North America and finished its run there at $57.1 million, according to its published box office record. Divide the new opening by the old one and the sequel started about 2.8 times stronger.
Three days in, Minus Zero has already banked 53.6% of what its predecessor made in the market across its whole run. It needs another $26.5 million to pass it. A weekend recap posted to the r/movies forum projected the film can reach about $80 million at home, though sequels tend to earn a bigger slice of their money up front than the films they follow.
The view from Japan
Toho released the film at home on November 3, three days before GKIDS, its North American arm, opened it in the US and Canada. On opening day in Japan it took ¥910 million (about $5.7 million) from 448 screens, the largest first day for any live-action film there, roughly double Minus One’s first day. Its worldwide total stands at about $62 million, against a reported budget of $13 million to $18 million.
Director Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote the film and supervised its visual effects, shot it for IMAX, a first for a Japanese production. It is also the first Godzilla film to carry an R rating in the US, for violent content and bloody images.
The rest of the top five
Below the two leaders, the actual figures put Angel Studios’ Drummer Boy third with $9.42 million, the Indian epic Ramayana: Rise of a Legend fourth with $8.94 million ($12.45 million over four days), and A24’s documentary You Can See Everything fifth with $8.44 million, lifting its total to $79.38 million after 24 days. Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine opened eighth with $5.91 million from only 1,100 theaters.
What comes next
The second weekend is the real test for a fan-driven release. Godzilla loses some premium screens on Friday, November 13, when Paramount opens Ebenezer, with Johnny Depp as Scrooge, alongside Amazon MGM’s heist comedy How to Rob a Bank. More box office stories are collected in our Entertainment section. A hold of 50% or better next weekend would put Minus Zero on course to pass $57.1 million before Thanksgiving week.
Further reading
Image: Suginami, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by our Editorial Desk. How we work.
