New York — NEW YORK (AP) – “Godzilla Minus Zero” entered theaters with a high of $31.6 million over the weekend, earning the first record for a foreign language film at the North American box office.
Takashi Yamazaki’s 2023 Oscar-winning sequel to “Godzilla Minus One” was easily on Warner Bros.’ “The Cat in the Hat” animated film. That film, starring Bill Hader, opened with $20.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, plus $10 million overseas.
While Godzilla recently celebrated its 72nd anniversary, Yamazaki has revived one of the longest running franchises in movies by bringing the series back to its Japanese roots. The film, produced by Toho and distributed in North America by GKids, is set in post-World War II Japan.
No foreign-language live-action film has had a bigger opening weekend, unless you count 2004’s “Passion of the Christ,” which opened with $83.8 million despite the mostly Aramaic dialogue. Last year, the anime “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” ended with $70.6 million.
But “Godzilla Minus Zero” bested the live-action mark previously held by 2004’s “Hero” ($17.9 million opening) and added to the trend of international, non-English productions drawing American audiences to movie theaters.
The weekend also saw the widest North American release for an Indian film. “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, a Hindi-language epic of Indian mythology which, as part one of two, is the most expensive Indian film ever made.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” and “Ramayana” both received global releases, debuting in their home countries at the same time they reached American audiences. In Japan, “Godzilla Minus Zero” collected about $17 million over the weekend.
“This historic opening demonstrates how deeply audiences around the world connect with Godzilla and Takashi Yamazaki’s vision,” Koji Ueda, president of Toho Global, said in a statement. “Our first global launch around the same time was built on that belief.”
“Godzilla Minus One”, which won the Oscar for best visual effects, was the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film of all time in the US and Canada despite a modest budget of under $15 million.
“Godzilla Minus Zero,” with a budget of less than $20 million, is sure to blow past its previous high of $57.1 million. Since its premiere last month at the New York Film Festival, the film has scored well with critics (90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (CineamaScore “A”).
“Godzilla” and “Ramayana” were each filmed for IMAX, with Yamazaki’s film getting an early IMAX-only release on Tuesday. Both benefited greatly from large format screens. “Godzilla Minus Zero” generated $21.3 million worldwide, or 34% of its box office take, from IMAX.
The big result for “Godzilla Minus Zero” will either whet the appetite of the audience or make a strange comparison for the next Godzilla film in Hollywood, English. In March, Warner Bros. and Legendary released “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova.”
“The Cat in the Hat” was the last attempt to revive the Dr. Seuss classic on the big screen, following the 2003 live-action film directed by Mike Myers. But the $86 million animated “Cat in the Hat” generated just a little interest from moviegoers. Reviews (44% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) were bad.
Not helping “The Cat in the Hat”: Laika’s animated fantasy “Wildwood” has been doing well with audiences, even leading all films at the box office early this week.
“Wildwood” fell just 22% in its third weekend, with $7 million. With a total gross of $39.8 million at home, it’s done well, even if Travis Knight’s expensive passion project, with a budget of at least $100 million, is almost certain to lose tens of millions.
Third place went to Angel Studios’ “Drummer Boy” with $9.3 million on its opening weekend. The Revolutionary War-set musical also saw its music top the iTunes chart.
One of the biggest hits of the weekend was “Wild Horse Nine,” Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy about a pair of CIA officers (John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell) on Easter Island. It opened with $6 million domestically and $6.6 million internationally, a great result for an awards film and a personal achievement for McDonagh.
Since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, “Wild Horse Nine” has been seen as a major contender for an Oscar, and the audience’s reception will add to that cause. The film, a Searchlight Pictures release, opened in 1,100 domestic theaters, a number that will roughly double this weekend.
Another pair of potential Oscar contenders got off to a good start in limited release. Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” about a gay party boy in New York who discovers he has a son, is coming out with a theater average of $65,097 from six screens for A24. “I Play Rocky,” Peter Farrelly’s hilarious commentary on the making of “Rocky,” debuted with a per-screen average of $49,200 from seven theaters for Amazon MGM Studios.
Meanwhile, Nathan Fiedler and Lance Oppenheim’s “You Can See Everything” continued its impressive run, bringing in $8.9 million in its fourth weekend of release. The A24 documentary about Elizabeth Holmes has so far grossed $79.8 million in North America.
After a sleepy Halloween weekend at the box office, overall ticket sales were up 96.8% from the previous weekend, according to Rentrak.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list shows estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:
1. “Godzilla Minus Zero,” $31.6 million.
2. “The Cat in the Hat,” $20.5 million.
3. “Drummer Boy,” $9.3 million.
4. “You See Everything,” $8.9 million.
5. “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend,” $8.7 million.
6. “Wildwood,” $7 million.
7. “Clayface,” $6.7 million.
8. “Wild Horse Nine,” $6 million.
9. Stray Kids live show, $3.7 million.
10. “Wicker,” $3.4 million.