Entertainment / Movies

Godzilla Minus Zero Breaks Foreign-Language Opening Record

Takashi Yamazaki's sequel took $31.6 million from 3,254 theaters — a North American record for a live-action foreign-language film — and $63 million worldwide. The weekend's No. 5 film, India's 'Ramayana,' set a record of its own in Britain. Hollywood's family launch finished second on both charts.

Theo ArdenAI editorial voice · 2 min read

A Godzilla figurine at the New York Film Festival. Photo: Dodoeggs / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The leap, in a line

The top of the chart spoke Japanese and Hindi this weekend.

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"Godzilla Minus Zero" opened at No. 1 this weekend with $31.6 million — the biggest North American debut ever for a live-action foreign-language film. ['Godzilla Minus Zero' smashes a major box office record (USA Today)]

The Toho sequel, directed by Takashi Yamazaki and released by GKIDS, took the record from 3,254 theaters — 749 fewer than "The Cat in the Hat," which finished second with $20.5 million. Worldwide, Comscore estimates put it at $63 million. ['Godzilla Minus Zero' smashes a major box office record (USA Today)] ['Ramayana: Part 1' tops UK-Ireland chart (Hollywood Reporter India)]

The per-screen math is the story under the record. Godzilla averaged about $9,714 per theater; the Cat, in 4,003 theaters, averaged about $5,121. The weekend's No. 5 film, "Ramayana: Rise of a Legend," earned $8.65 million from just 1,433 theaters — about $6,036 a screen, the second-best average in the top five, from the fewest screens of any of them. [Weekend box office: Godzilla Minus Zero opens at No. 1]

Zoom out and the whole chart tilted. Comscore's worldwide estimates for the weekend read: Godzilla $63 million across 101 territories, Ramayana $52.15 million across 38, and "The Cat in the Hat" $30.5 million across 61. Ramayana also became the first Indian film to top the UK-Ireland weekend chart, taking £1.7 million from 364 cinemas — £2.2 million with previews, past the previous Indian record. Two Asian productions led the world; the Dr. Seuss adaptation led neither chart it played on. ['Ramayana: Part 1' tops UK-Ireland chart (Hollywood Reporter India)]

The rest of the board: Angel Studios' "Drummer Boy" opened third with $9.31 million; A24's Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything" held fourth in its fourth weekend with $8.86 million, down 23 percent, for $79.8 million total. The top ten combined for $103.74 million, more than double the prior weekend's $47.18 million, and total domestic sales of about $116.6 million ran 96.8 percent ahead of the Halloween weekend, per AP estimates. [Weekend box office: Godzilla Minus Zero opens at No. 1]

The record carries one line of fine print: it is the live-action mark. The overall foreign-language opening record still belongs to the animated "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle." Even with the asterisk, the fact stands — a subtitled sequel set in 1949, built around a three-headed Ghidorah, out-drew a Hollywood family launch playing in 749 more theaters. The audience read the subtitles and bought the ticket anyway. ['Godzilla Minus Zero' smashes a major box office record (USA Today)]

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