Godzilla Minus Zero breaks live-action foreign-language opening record

Gkids’ release of Toho’s Godzilla Minus Zero opened to an estimated $31.6 million from 3,254 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to Deadline, though Polygon put the estimate at $32 million and JoBlo also reported $31.6 million. The total is the largest domestic opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film and the biggest debut for distributor Gkids, Deadline reported; it beat the previous live-action foreign-language opening, the 2002 Chinese film Hero with $17.8 million. Worldwide, Godzilla Minus Zero collected $63 million, making it the No. 1 movie globally ahead of Prime Focus Studios and Sony’s Ramayana: Rise of a Legend at $55.7 million.

Before the weekend, Godzilla Minus Zero had already earned $6.7 million in previews since Tuesday, more than previews for Legendary’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters and last year’s Predator: Badlands, Deadline reported. In Japan, the film took in 910 million yen, or $5.7 million, on its opening day, which Deadline called a record for a live-action picture in Japan, and its running cume reached $17 million (2.7 billion yen). Premium formats played an unusually large role: Deadline said Imax and other PLF auditoriums accounted for 74% of the domestic weekend gross, compared with 52% for Universal’s The Odyssey, which opened to $123.5 million. Godzilla Minus Zero received an A CinemaScore and a 91% certified fresh critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 96% audience score, Deadline reported.

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation’s The Cat in the Hat opened in second with $20.5 million from 4,003 theaters, getting an A CinemaScore but a 48% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, according to Deadline; JoBlo reported the film added only $10 million overseas for a $30.5 million worldwide start. Angel Studios’ Drummer Boy took third with $9.3 million, an A CinemaScore, a 50% Rotten Tomatoes critics score and a 93% audience score, Deadline said. A24’s You Can See Everything placed fourth with $8.8 million in its fourth weekend, down 23%, and its domestic total reached $79.7 million, the second-highest gross ever for a documentary, according to Deadline. Sony’s release of Prime Focus Studios’ Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, the first part of a two-film project with a reported $420 million-$500 million budget, opened to $8.65 million for a $12.1 million domestic cume.

Searchlight’s Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh’s latest film, opened at 1,100 theaters with $6 million, and Deadline reported that its $12.6 million worldwide total is a record start for the director. In limited release, A24’s Club Kid earned $390,500 from six locations for a $65,000 per-theater average, while Amazon MGM’s I Play Rocky took in $345,000 from seven theaters for a $49,200 average, according to Deadline and JoBlo. Overall, the weekend generated $121.6 million across all films, the best first weekend of November post-Covid per Rentrak; the domestic box office for Jan. 1 through Nov. 8 stands at $8.6 billion, up 20% from the same period a year ago, Deadline reported.