Godzilla Minus Zero stomps to No. 1 in the US with a $31.6M opening

Hollywood has made plenty of Godzillas. This weekend, though, the one that ruled the US box office was the Japanese one.

Toho's Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $31.6 million at the domestic box office, from 3,254 locations. That put it at No. 1, ahead of Warner Bros.' animated "The Cat in the Hat" ($20.5 million).

What happened?

The film is the sequel to 2023's Godzilla Minus One, also directed by Takashi Yamazaki. That movie opened to $11.4 million in North America, so the new one nearly tripled it.

It is also the fourth non-English film to reach No. 1 on the US weekend chart. Among live-action non-English films, only "The Passion of the Christ" has opened bigger: $83 million in 2004.

For GKids, Toho's American distribution arm, it's a company record. It beats the $13 million opening of Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" in 2023.

Outside the US, the film has made another $31 million, including $17 million in Japan.

Why is everyone talking about it?

Part of the answer is momentum. Godzilla Minus One became a surprise hit, grossed $116 million worldwide on a $10 million budget and won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Audiences were ready for more.

The other part is scale. Minus Zero is set in 1949, as Japan battles monsters while rebuilding after World War II. It's the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX, and it shows in the numbers: 74% of opening-weekend tickets were for premium large formats, and $12.7 million came from IMAX screens alone.

Reviews have been glowing too. The Japanese films tend to focus on theme and character, not just spectacle, and that seems to be setting them apart from the American versions.

What's next?

With a reported $13 million budget, the film is already a big win. Eyes now turn to whether it can repeat the awards-season run of its predecessor.

Earlier in the story

Godzilla Minus One opened in Japan on 3 November 2023 and went on to become an international hit. In March 2024 it became the first Japanese film to win the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.