‘Godzilla x Kong’ Global Box Office Roars to Life With Epic Debut Weekend

The Big Picture

• Godzilla x Kong
  exceeded box office expectations, grossing $194 million globally in its opening weekend.
• The movie had a strong performance in domestic and Chinese markets, grossing $80 million in the US and $44 million in China.
• Despite mixed reviews,
  Godzilla x Kong
  garnered a high audience score of 92% and an A- CinemaScore, indicating potential for continued success.

Bolstered by an exceptional performance in both the domestic market and particularly China, Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire blazed past expectations in its global box office debut. The monster mashup movie generated around $194 million worldwide, after opening in select overseas territories a couple of days prior to its stateside release, where it exceeded expectations by $30 million thanks to unexpected walk-in crowds over the Easter break. Around $20 million of this global haul came from IMAX theaters, continuing a recent successful streak for the format initiated by Oppenheimer and subsequently strengthened by Dune: Part Two.

Godzilla x Kong grossed an estimated $80 million in its first weekend domestically — this is the second-biggest debut of the year behind Dune: Part Two, and the second-best in the history of the now decade-old MonsterVerse. The movie also grossed $44 million in its opening weekend in China, which is a huge deal for a Hollywood movie in the post-pandemic era. Famously, the MonsterVerse’s last installment, Godzilla vs. Kong, grossed nearly twice as much in the Middle Kingdom as it did in North America. But it also marked the end of an era, because China started restricting the release of foreign films shortly afterward. Other significant overseas markets for Godzilla x Kong are Mexico ($12 million), India ($5.5 million), and the U.K. ($5.3 million).

W.B. and Legendary took into account the unreliability of the Chinese market, reportedly restricting Godzilla x Kong’s budget to an unusually low $135 million. By comparison, previous installments of the MonsterVerse reportedly cost between $150 million and $200 million to produce. The franchise’s top-grossing film remains 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, which concluded its theatrical run with $560 million worldwide. The series’ first film, 2014’s Godzilla, grossed $530 million globally.

The MonsterVerse Is the Rare Successful Cinematic Universe Outside the MCU

The MonsterVerse experienced a bit of a setback in 2019, when Godzilla: King of the Monsters failed to crack the $400 million mark worldwide, but bounced back handsomely in 2021 when Godzilla vs. Kong delivered a $470 million global haul despite a day-and-date release on HBO Max streaming service. Directed by Adam Wingard, the film’s tone deviated significantly from the more grounded origins of the franchise, and this is the direction in which the series appears to be headed under his stewardship.

Also directed by Wingard, Godzilla x Kong opened to mixed reviews. The movie sits at a “rotten” 55% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, although its audience score is significantly higher at 92%. The film’s A- CinemaScore from opening day crowds bodes well for its future, and there’s a strong chance that the movie will play well into the next month. Collider’s Ross Bonaime called Godzilla x Kong the “most absurd” installment of the franchise in his review, and criticized how the film’s human characters were drawn.

Starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Bryan Tyree Henry and Kaylee Hottle, Godzilla x Kong is now playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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