Godzilla Minus Zero Tops the US Box Office With a $14.5 Million Friday. Here's Why That Matters
A Japanese monster movie is the number one film in America right now.
Let that sink in for a second.
Godzilla Minus Zero, Takashi Yamazaki's sequel to 2023's Godzilla Minus One, made $14.5 million on Friday across 3,254 theatres in North America, including Thursday previews. Variety is projecting a weekend of around $32 million.
The numbers
Friday (with previews): $14.5 million
Theatres: 3,254
Weekend projection: about $32 million
Producer: Toho
North American distributor: GKIDS
Reported budget: in the mid-teens of millions of dollars
For context, the distributor itself had been expecting a mid-$20 million opening. The film is well ahead of that.
Who it beat
The No. 2 film is Warner Bros.' new animated The Cat in the Hat, with $6 million on Friday from 4,003 theatres, heading for around $18 million. That's a big studio film with a reported $92 million budget and Bill Hader voicing the cat. And Godzilla, made for a fraction of that, is beating it comfortably.
Reviews tell the same story. Godzilla Minus Zero sits at around 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Cat in the Hat is at around 45%.
Why this is a big deal
Remember what Minus One did. It opened to $11.4 million in North America in December 2023, ended with $57.1 million there, and became the first Japanese film to win the Oscar for best visual effects. It would have been easy to call it a one-off: a small, emotional, beautifully made monster film that got lucky.
Minus Zero is proving it wasn't luck. Its opening is set to be far bigger than Minus One's. Trade reports are touting it as the biggest opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film in North America, ahead of Hero's $17.8 million back in 2004.
The same weekend, in India
Here's the part I can't stop thinking about. The same weekend Godzilla leads North America, Ramayana is dominating India, and it's even made about $2.4 million in North America on Friday too.
So on one weekend, the biggest stories at the box office in two of the world's largest film markets are a Japanese monster film and an Indian epic. Neither of them is from Hollywood.
A data point, not a trend
Let me be careful here. One weekend isn't a revolution. Hollywood still owns most of the global box office, and one big opening doesn't change that overnight.
But it is a good data point for anyone making big, ambitious films outside Hollywood. Audiences will show up for a film in a language they don't speak if it's made with real craft and real feeling. Minus One proved it once. Minus Zero is proving it again, bigger.
My take
What made Minus One special wasn't the monster. It was the people. A guilty pilot, a found family, a country trying to rebuild. Godzilla was the fear, but the story was about survival and hope.
If Yamazaki has done that again, and the reviews suggest he has, this could run for weeks.
For the Indian side of this weekend, read our Ramayana box office day 4 update. And for another Hollywood release landing in India this month, read our piece on Ghost Soldier.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Godzilla Minus Zero make on opening day?
It made $14.5 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, from 3,254 theatres in North America.
What is Godzilla Minus Zero's opening weekend projection?
Variety projected around $32 million for the weekend.
Who directed Godzilla Minus Zero?
Takashi Yamazaki, who also directed Godzilla Minus One (2023). Toho produced the film and GKIDS is distributing it in North America.
How did Godzilla Minus One do?
Godzilla Minus One opened to $11.4 million in North America in December 2023, earned $57.1 million there, and won the Oscar for best visual effects.
Vishal Waghela is the Co-Founder of AltBollywood and a proud neo-generalist who refuses to pick a lane. Film, music, memes, fashion, AI, internet subcultures: if pop culture touches it, he's already three rabbit holes deep. He writes the way he lives online, loud, emotional, a little chaotic and always honest about why culture makes us feel things. Come argue with him on Instagram at @vishal.waghe1a.
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