The Big Picture
After debuting in its home country Japan last month, Toho’s buzzy kaiju film, Godzilla Minus One, finally opened in North America this weekend. The movie exceeded expectations, grossing $11 million across its first three days of release and nearly setting a record for foreign-language titles. Godzilla Minus One had already grossed $23 million in Japan heading into its stateside release, which means that the movie has now grossed around $35 million worldwide, against a very minimal reported budget of $15 million.
Godzilla Minus One debuted at the number three spot on the domestic box office chart, behind debutante Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé and the holdover hit The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, but ahead of two animated titles, Trolls Band Together and Wish. This marks the second-biggest debut for a foreign-language live-action title, behind only Jet Li’s 2002 wuxia blockbuster Hero, which grossed $18 million in its first weekend and finished its domestic run with over $50 million.
Needless to say, this is the biggest-ever domestic debut for a Japanese live-action film. Godzilla Minus One has already grossed over five times what 2016’s Shin Godzilla made in its entire domestic run. The movie was particularly popular in the IMAX format, which contributed to over 13% of its domestic sales. The film’s global IMAX take this weekend stood at $1.7 million from 70 locations, and its cumulative IMAX total has now passed $4.6 million. The film also debuted in Australia, Spain, and Germany this weekend.
The Godzilla Franchise Is Witnessing a Resurgence
Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One is the 37th overall film in the Godzilla franchise, which began in 1954 and is celebrating its 70th anniversary. It’s the fifth installment in the franchise’s Reiwa era, and the second live-action film of the generation after Shin Godzilla, which concluded its global run with $78 million. Reviews for Godzilla Minus One have been spectacular; the film is sitting at a “certified fresh” 97% score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and Collider’s Chase Hutchinson called it “among the best entries of this long-running series” in his review.
Incidentally, a parallel franchise is underway in Hollywood, with its next installment, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, slated for release next year. The MonsterVerse series recently expanded to streaming, with Apple’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters live-action series premiering to positive response last month. The franchise’s first film, 2014’s Godzilla, grossed more than $500 million worldwide, while 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters made a little over $380 million globally, and 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong generated $470 million worldwide despite a day-and-date debut on streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Post war Japan is at its lowest point when a new crisis emerges in the form of a giant monster, baptized in the horrific power of the atomic bomb.
Release Date December 1, 2023
Director Takashi Yamazaki
Cast Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yûki Yamada, Sakura Andō
Rating PG-13
Get Tickets at Fandango
