NEW YORK (AP) — “Godzilla Minus Zero” stomped into movie theaters with a chart-topping $31.6 million over the weekend, scoring a record debut for a foreign-language film at the North American box office.
Takashi Yamazaki‘s sequel to 2023’s Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One” easily thrashed Warner Bros.’ animated “The Cat in the Hat” movie. That film, featuring the voice of Bill Hader, opened with $20.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, plus $10 million overseas.
While Godzilla recently celebrated his 72nd birthday, 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-WWII Japan.
No live-action foreign language film has had a bigger opening weekend, unless you count 2004’s “Passion of the Christ,” which opened with $83.8 million despite its largely Aramaic dialogue. Last year, the anime “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” debuted with $70.6 million.
NEW YORK (AP) — “Godzilla Minus Zero” stomped into movie theaters with a chart-topping $31.6 million over the weekend, scoring a record debut for a foreign-language film at the North American box office.
Takashi Yamazaki‘s sequel to 2023’s Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One” easily thrashed Warner Bros.’ animated “The Cat in the Hat” movie. That film, featuring the voice of Bill Hader, opened with $20.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, plus $10 million overseas.
While Godzilla recently celebrated his 72nd birthday, 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-WWII Japan.
No live-action foreign language film has had a bigger opening weekend, unless you count 2004’s “Passion of the Christ,” which opened with $83.8 million despite its largely Aramaic dialogue. Last year, the anime “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” debuted with $70.6 million.
NEW YORK (AP) — “Godzilla Minus Zero” stomped into movie theaters with a chart-topping $31.6 million over the weekend, scoring a record debut for a foreign-language film at the North American box office.
Takashi Yamazaki‘s sequel to 2023’s Oscar-winning “Godzilla Minus One” easily thrashed Warner Bros.’ animated “The Cat in the Hat” movie. That film, featuring the voice of Bill Hader, opened with $20.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, plus $10 million overseas.
While Godzilla recently celebrated his 72nd birthday, 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-WWII Japan.
No live-action foreign language film has had a bigger opening weekend, unless you count 2004’s “Passion of the Christ,” which opened with $83.8 million despite its largely Aramaic dialogue. Last year, the anime “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” debuted with $70.6 million.
Led by ‘Wild Horse Nine,’ Oscar contenders surge
One of the weekend’s biggest successes 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 domestic and $6.6 million internationally, a stellar result for an awards movie and a personal best for McDonagh.
Since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, “Wild Horse Nine” has been seen as a top Oscar contender, and its reception from audiences will boost that cause. The film, a Searchlight Pictures release, launched in 1,100 domestic theaters, a number that will roughly double next weekend.
Another pair of potential Oscar contenders got off to good starts in limited release. Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” about a gay New York party boy who finds out he has a son, debuted with a $65,097 theater average from six screens for A24. “I Play Rocky,” Peter Farrelly’s comic telling of the making of “Rocky,” launched with a $49,200 per-screen average from seven theaters for Amazon MGM Studios.
Meanwhile, Nathan Fiedler and Lance Oppenheim’s “You Can See Everything” continued its sensational run, grossing $8.9 million in its fourth weekend of release. The A24 documentary about Elizabeth Holmes has so far collected $79.8 million in North America.
After a sleepy Halloween weekend at the box office, overall ticket sales were up a whopping 96.8% from the previous weekend, according to Rentrak.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the 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 Can 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 viewing, $3.7 million.
10. “Wicker,” $3.4 million.
Feature image from GKIDS VIA AP
