Godzilla Minus Zero Sets Record With 31.6 Million Dollar Opening

Godzilla Minus Zero opened at number one in North America with an estimated 31.6 million dollars, the biggest opening weekend any Japanese Godzilla film has had in the United States and Canada. Estimates released on Sunday, November 8 put the Japanese language sequel in 3,254 theatres, USA Today reported. The worldwide opening reached about 63 million dollars, with about 31 million dollars overseas, including 17 million dollars in Japan.

The film opened in Japan on November 3, timed to the 72nd anniversary of the release of the original Godzilla. Director Takashi Yamazaki returned after Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 film that won the Academy Award for best visual effects. Minus One opened with 11.4 million dollars in December 2023, so the sequel opened at nearly three times that level. Minus One went on to earn 57.1 million dollars in its full North American run.

What record exactly

The record claims need care, because the trade papers frame them differently. Variety called the debut the largest opening weekend for a live action foreign language movie in North America, ahead of Hero, which opened with 17.8 million dollars in 2004, The Playlist reported. TheWrap called it the second highest opening for a live action non English film, behind only The Passion of the Christ, performed in Hebrew, Latin and Aramaic, which opened with 83 million dollars in 2004. Both framings agree on the core fact: no Japanese film, and no Godzilla film, has opened close to this level in North America.

For GKIDS, the film's North American distributor, the opening is a company record. It passes the 13 million dollar opening of The Boy and the Heron in 2023, TheWrap reported. Premium screens did heavy work: IMAX took in about 21.3 million dollars worldwide, roughly a third of the global opening, the Associated Press reported. Audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore.

Why it matters

The economics are the story under the record. Minus One was made for less than 15 million dollars and became the highest grossing Japanese live action film ever in the United States and Canada. The sequel reportedly cost about 30 percent more than the original, The Playlist reported, which still leaves its budget far below a typical Hollywood effects film. A 63 million dollar worldwide opening on that cost base shows a Japanese studio competing on craft rather than scale, and selling tickets in the largest market in the world without an English language version.

What is next

Final weekend figures are due on Monday. The test after the record is staying power: whether word of mouth holds the film near the top for a second weekend, and how far past the 57.1 million dollar North American total of Minus One it can run.