“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 surpassed Warner Bros.' animated “The Cat in the Hat,” which opened with $20.5 million. “Godzilla Minus Zero,” produced by Toho and distributed in North America by GKids, is set in post-WWII Japan.
No live-action foreign language film had a bigger opening weekend than “Godzilla Minus Zero,” with the exception of 2004’s “Passion of the Christ,” which opened with $83.8 million. Last year, the anime “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” debuted with $70.6 million.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” bested the previous live-action foreign-language opening record held by 2004’s “Hero” ($17.9 million) and adds to a growing trend of international, non-English productions drawing American audiences.
The weekend also saw the widest North American release for an Indian film, “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend.” The Hindi-language epic, which is the most expensive Indian film ever made, launched with $8.7 million domestically and $32 million in India.
“This historic opening shows how deeply audiences around the world connect with Godzilla and with Takashi Yamazaki’s vision,” said Koji Ueda, president of Toho Global. “Our first near-simultaneous global release was built on that belief.”
“Godzilla Minus One,” which won the Oscar for best visual effects, was the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film ever in the U.S. and Canada despite a modest budget under $15 million. Its sequel, “Godzilla Minus Zero,” with a budget of less than $20 million, is expected to surpass its predecessor's $57.1 million haul. The film has received positive reviews, scoring 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A” CinemaScore.
Both “Godzilla Minus Zero” and “Ramayana” were filmed for IMAX, with Yamazaki’s film generating $21.3 million globally from IMAX screens. The success of “Godzilla Minus Zero” may set a high bar for the next Hollywood, English-language Godzilla movie, “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” scheduled for release in March.
“The Cat in the Hat,” an animated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic, opened to modest interest and negative reviews. It faced competition from Laika's stop-motion animated film “Wildwood,” which has performed well with audiences. "Wildwood" dipped only 22% in its third weekend, earning $7 million, bringing its cumulative domestic total to $39.8 million.
Angel Studios' “Drummer Boy” took third place with $9.3 million. "Wild Horse Nine,” a dark comedy starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, opened with $6 million domestically and $6.6 million internationally, positioning it as a potential awards contender.
Overall ticket sales were up 96.8% from the previous weekend. The top 10 films for the weekend were:
- “Godzilla Minus Zero,” $31.6 million.
- “The Cat in the Hat,” $20.5 million.
- “Drummer Boy,” $9.3 million.
- “You Can See Everything,” $8.9 million.
- “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend,” $8.7 million.
- “Wildwood,” $7 million.
- “Clayface,” $6.7 million.
- “Wild Horse Nine,” $6 million.
- Stray Kids live viewing, $3.7 million.
- “Wicker,” $3.4 million.