Godzilla x Kong Crushes Expectations with $80 Million Debut
by Rebecca Rubin
March 31, 2024


Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire stomped to the top of box office charts, collecting a better-than-expected $80 million from 3,861 North American theaters in its debut.

Heading into the weekend, the monster mashup was projected to earn $50 million to $55 million to start. But Godzilla x Kong, which sees the two otherworldly beasts team up to save the planet, trounced those projections after benefitting from several factors, including premium large formats (accounting for 48% of ticket sales) and audience enthusiasm (it landed an “A-” CinemaScore”).

Critics were less impressed and t holds a 55% “rotten” average on Rotten Tomatoes.



It far exceeded expectations with $114 million from 64 overseas territories, bringing its global total to a massive $194 million.

After three days of release, it’s already the third-highest-grossing movie of the year following Dune: Part Two ($626 million after five weeks of release) and Kung Fu Panda 4 ($347 million after four weeks of release).






Godzilla x Kong took a sizable bite out of business for Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which is targeting a similar demographic (and also coincidentally has the word “Empire” in the title).

The supernatural comedy landed in a distant second place with $15.7 million from 4,345 venues, marking a steep 65% decline from its debut. After two weeks of release Ghostbusters has generated $73.4 million at the domestic box office and $108.5 million globally.






Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 remained in third place with $10 million from 3,582 theaters.

So far, the animated family film has grossed $151 million in North America and more than $347 million globally.






Dune: Part Two dropped to the No. 4 spot in its fifth weekend on the big screen. The sci-fi epic has collected $9.85 million over the weekend and $251 million domestically to date.

It’s currently the highest-grossing movie of the year with $626 million worldwide.






Sydney Sweeney’s religious horror film Immaculate rounded out the top five with $3.2 million from 2,362 locations, down 41% from the prior weekend.

Neon is backing the movie, which has earned $11.1 million after two weeks in theaters.

https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/box-office-godzilla-kong-beats-expectations-opening-weekend-1235956468/






March 29-31, 2024: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire $80,006,561
2. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire $15,577,744 / $73,278,877
3. Dune: Part Two $11,352,680 / $252,642,707
4. Kung Fu Panda 4 $10,347,210 / $151,799,265
5. Immaculate $3,252,792 / $11,115,983
6. Arthur the King $2,484,604 / $19,151,001
7. Late Night with the Devil $2,162,102 / $6,250,860
8. Tillu Square $1,870,000
9. Crew $1,500,000
10. Imaginary $1,391,371 / $26,226,425

Godzilla x Kong Staying on Top, Monkey Man Swings into Second and The First Omen Gets Crossed Up
by J. Kim Murphy
April 6, 2024


It’s a primate face-off at the box office this weekend, plus some old-fashioned Antichrist horror on the side.

Legendary Entertainment and Warner Bros.’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire looks to stick on top of domestic charts, holding off the opening weekend bows of Universal’s beat-em-up Monkey Man and 20th Century Studios’ horror revival The First Omen.




That kaiju victory lap probably has less to do with the staying power of The New Empire than the strength of its competition though. The blockbuster monster mash earned $8.5 million on Friday, down a steep 77% from its opening day a week ago.

The New Empire could be eyeing a drop north of 60% across the three-day frame — not a superlatively large decline from a blockbuster’s opening weekend, but still a pretty sizable one. It puts in perspective the impressively slim 44% drop that fellow Legendary production Dune: Part Two faced in its sophomore outing.






Eyeing second is Universal’s Monkey Man, which the studio picked up after Netflix dropped an initial deal with the production. The action movie, starring and helmed by Dev Patel in his feature directorial debut, nabbed $4.2 million on Friday and previews.

It is now looking at a $10.5 million debut from 3,029 locations — a couple steps behind the $12 million bow that projections had it at before the weekend. The film scored strong reviews following a buzzy premiere at the SXSW Festival in March.

Audiences that showed up early are leaning positive, as indicated by the B+ grade determined by survey firm Cinema Score.






Landing a less auspicious debut is The First Omen, which earned $3.2 million across Friday and preview screenings. Projections heading into the weekend had pegged an opening north of $14 million.

It seems the release from 20th Century Studios (owned by Disney) will be lucky to even hit $10 million. It’s a rare underperformance for horror at the box office, though it might have something to do with attempting to entice audiences with a decades-old property.

It has earned positive nods from critics, though audiences are less-enthused, turning in a C grade on Cinema Score.






Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire looks to land in fourth place, facing a 42% drop in its third weekend.

The supernatural comedy sequel will get past an $85 million domestic tally this weekend, along with $40 million internationally — not a figure that would seem to justify a $100 million production budget, plus marketing costs and accounting for exhibitor’s take of ticket sales.






Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4 looks to round out the top five, projecting another modest drop this weekend (23%) for another $8 million.

In the coming days, it will surpass the $165.2 million domestic sum of 2010’s Kung Fu Panda 2 to become the second-highest grossing title of the DreamWorks Animation franchise in North America.

https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/monkey-man-opening-godzilla-kong-second-weekend-first-omen-1235962604/





April 5-7, 2024: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire $31,700,000 / $135,037,630
2. Monkey Man $10,100,000
3. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire $9,000,000 / $88,863,665
4. The First Omen $8,363,000
5. Kung Fu Panda 4 $7,850,000 / $166,057,090
6. Dune: Part Two $7,200,000 / $264,858,587
7. Someone Like You $3,002,382
8. Wicked Little Letters $1,652,902
9. Arthur the King $1,540,000 / $22,205,856
10. Immaculate $1,405,000 / $14,146,129