Tokyo: Japan’s iconic Godzilla franchise has achieved another major box office success, with its latest instalment, Godzilla Minus Zero, topping the US box office during its opening weekend and attracting audiences worldwide.
The Japanese-language film earned $63 million globally, including $31.6 million in the United States and Canada. The opening established a new record for the biggest debut weekend by a live-action foreign-language film in the North American market. The movie is screened in Japanese with English subtitles.
The 39th instalment in the franchise, which began in 1954, also delivered record-breaking results in Japan. According to the latest reports, the sequel to the Oscar-winning 2023 film Godzilla Minus One achieved a new domestic opening record for a live-action release.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus Zero is set in Japan in 1949, two years after Godzilla was believed to have died at the bottom of the ocean. The giant creature returns as Japan struggles to rebuild following the Second World War, this time confronting a new threat in the form of Ghidorah, a three-headed, dragon-like monster.
The film features a confrontation between Godzilla and Ghidorah, whose destructive abilities include firing lightning from its mouth. Human intervention also plays a role in the battle as the country faces another major threat.
Koji Ueda, president of production company Toho Global, said the strong opening demonstrated the continuing international appeal of Godzilla and Yamazaki’s creative vision. He noted that the film’s near-simultaneous worldwide release was planned with confidence in the franchise’s global following.
In Japan, the film collected $5.75 million on its opening day on November 3, setting a new first-day box office record for a live-action movie in the country. Toho said the figure was more than twice the opening-day revenue recorded by Godzilla Minus One.
The production was filmed largely on location, qualifying it as a live-action feature. Filming included large crowd sequences at a sports park in Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo, and scenes at a temple in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture.
The film’s worldwide release across IMAX and conventional cinemas has also exceeded industry expectations. Box office analyst David A Gross noted that the opening was nearly three times the debut performance of Godzilla Minus One in December 2023.
Godzilla Minus Zero is also competing with India’s Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, which collected $55.7 million during its opening weekend. The Hindi-language production, described as the most expensive Indian film ever made, earned $8.7 million in the US and $32 million in India.
Both productions were made in the IMAX format, with Godzilla Minus Zero receiving an exclusive early release on IMAX screens the previous week. Large-format screenings accounted for 34 per cent of the film’s opening-weekend box office revenue, highlighting their contribution to audience interest.
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