Godzilla Minus One makes a triumphant debut a the US box office!
One month after its release in Japan, Toho’s Godzilla Minus One has made its way to international territories. It is hitting America first. Early Fan Access Event Screenings started on November 29 and it released on December 1. The film will then release next week in France for two days only (December 7 and 8) in Pathé cinemas, followed by the United Kingdom on December 15 and other European countries. Anime Limited is handling the release in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Godzilla Minus One is only released in original version with subtitles.
The King of Monsters has made a triumphant debut at the box office in the US beating industry’s projections that were between $5 and $9 million a few weeks ago. In fact, it even made history by breaking some records. It grossed $11.4 million on its 3-day opening weekend and came in third place. Estimates on Sunday had it at $11 million but weekend actuals were actually higher with $11.4 million. This is the biggest opening ever for a Japanese live-action film in the US and the second biggest opening ever for a non-English live-action film, only under Hero‘s $17.8 million in 2004. For this year, it is also the biggest opening for a non-English film overtaking Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba‘s $10.1 million.
Moreover, this is the second time ever that two films (the second one is Béyoncé’s Renaissance) debut over $10 million on the slow Post-Thanksgiving weekend. The last time it happened was in 2003 with The Last samurai‘s $24.3 million and Honey‘s $12.9 million. It is actually quite impressive results for a subtitled film in the US. Godzilla Minus One debuted in 2,308 cinemas.
Among the $11 million, it includes $2.1 million in preview screenings on Wednesday and Thursday. This is the biggest preview screening for a non-English live-action film in the US. Then on Friday, it grossed $4.7 million (this includes the previews, 2.6 million without previews) coming in second position at the box office. This is the biggest opening day ever for a Japanese live-action film in the US and it is the second best opening day for a non-English live-action film (the first one is Chinese film Hero with $6.7 million in 2004). On Saturday, it grossed $3.7 million, so it was up by 42.3% from Friday without the previews. And on Sunday, it grossed $3 million, it was down by 21% from Saturday. Men represented 77% of ticket buyers on opening day and 63% of all ticket buyers were between the ages of 18 and 34.
It made 6 times more than Shin Godzilla‘s entire run at the US box office which was only $1.9 million. Hideaki Ano‘s Shin Godzilla was the previous Japanese Godzilla film released in 2016. Toho Japan also reported that the opening weekend of Godzilla Minus One exceeded the highest box office gross of any Japanese Godzilla film in the US. The record was previously held by Godzilla 2000: Millenium in 1999 with $10.03 million.
Beyond the box office success, the film is also a hit critically. Indeed, it has received extremely positive reactions with an A Cinemascore, the highest Cinemascore for a Godzilla film on par with the Monsterverse’s Godzilla vs Kong. Furthermore, it currently holds a 97% critics score and 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. An A Cinemascore is an excellent news for legs at the box office!
In Japan, Godzilla Minus One has dominated the box office, staying number one for three weeks in a row. It dropped to number 2 in its fourth weekend against Fly Me to the Saitama ~From Lake Biwa with Love~ and maintained the second spot in its fifth weekend. The cumulative total gross of the film has reached 3.8 billion yen in five weeks which is around $23,7 million on 2,48 million admissions. Godzilla Minus One is also the highest audience rated Godzilla film in Japan. It earned 4 stars out of 5 on Filmarks, the Japanese film aggregator.
ABOUT GODZILLA MINUS ONE:
The worst despair in the series’ history strikes Japan! After the war, Japan has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state. The most desperate situation in the history of Japan. Who? And how? Will Japan stand up to it?
It stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Sakura Andor, Hidetaka Yoshioka and Munetaka Aoki. The film was directed and written by Takashi Yamazaki (Lupin III: The First) who also supervised the visual effects.
You can watch the latest trailer below:
Godzilla Minus One is now in cinemas in Japan and North America. It releases in France on December 7 and 8 in Pathé cinemas and on December 15 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Source: Box Office Mojo, Eiga and Kogyo Tsushinsha
Collectables and Anime Editor for Future Of The Force.
Star Wars expert and Japan connoisseur.
