Godzilla and King Kong fight in Warner Bros. “Godzilla vs. Kong.”
Source: Warner Bros.
The domestic checkout is back.
Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” had a best pandemic opening over the weekend, securing $ 32.2 million on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The film, which was released domestically on Wednesday, has grossed $ 48.5 million in the US and Canada.
Internationally, “Godzilla vs. Kong” added an additional $ 71.6 million to the box office. Since opening in foreign markets last week, the film has grossed $ 285.4 million.
“The results for ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ are absolutely stunning and represent a kind of ‘welcome back’ for an industry that has been moving away from the brink for over a year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Godzilla vs. Kong opened in more than 3,000 theaters in North America over the weekend, the majority of all the movies during the pandemic. In addition to posting the biggest opening weekend since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the film also had the biggest opening day on Wednesday at $ 9.6 million and the biggest day on Saturday at $ 12.5 million.
“For anyone who may have questioned pent-up demand for cinema attendance, this achievement is another sign of how resilient the theatrical industry can be,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.
According to data from Comscore, only 55% of theaters in North America were open on weekends, compared to the total number open in 2019. Most of those cinemas run at about 50% capacity.
“It should send another message to studios that the world’s audience is hungry for big cinematic releases,” said Robbins. “ If ‘Godzilla vs. Kong “can reach these numbers in a still-handicapped domestic market with a simultaneous streaming release, just imagine what other blockbuster contenders can achieve in the coming months if they get a reasonable window of theatrical exclusivity from day one.”
“A sleeping giant is really starting to wake up,” he said.