‘Godzilla x Kong’ Blows Away Box Office With $75 Million Opening

Jeremy Fuster
·2 min read
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Warner Bros/Legendary’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” is blowing past everyone’s box office expectations. After being projected for an opening weekend in the low $50 million range, the fifth film in the MonsterVerse saga is now set to earn a $75 million launch from 3,861 theaters.

That’s the second best opening in the history of the MonsterVerse behind the $93 million earned by the series’ original installment, Gareth Edwards’ 2014 “Godzilla” reboot. If the latest sequel continues to overperform in matinee screenings, estimates may continue to tick up and reach the $82 million that fellow Legendary release “Dune: Part Two” earned at the start of this month.

“Godzilla x Kong” is also satisfying moviegoers looking for two legendary creatures to smash things up, earning an A- on CinemaScore and a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, while upcoming films like Universal’s “Monkey Man” and A24’s “Civil War” may challenge for the core audience of younger males, this word of mouth should allow for long legs.

If it does, March 2024 will have been a red letter month for Legendary Pictures, as “Dune: Part Two” is on the cusp of passing $250 million domestic and $600 million worldwide. The Denis Villeneuve-directed film currently stands as the highest grossing film of 2024 so far, and combined with the success of “Wonka” has earned lead star Timothee Chalamet a first-look deal with Warner Bros.

On the flip side, the success of “Godzilla x Kong” has come partly at the expense of Sony/Columbia’s “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” which industry estimates have earning a second weekend total of just $15 million. That is a 66% drop from the film’s $45 million opening, by far the steepest second weekend drop for a major release this month.

The film is estimated for a 10-day domestic total of $73 million, down 14% from the $87 million running total of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in 2021.

The post ‘Godzilla x Kong’ Blows Away Box Office With $75 Million Opening appeared first on TheWrap.