“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” Gets Kaiju-Sized Box Office Debut!

Okay. I might have exaggerated a bit in the title. But still, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire did manage to open to some impressive numbers at the box office. At this point, a third movie in the Monster Team-up franchise is likely happening.

From Warner Bros. and Legendary, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire exceeded industry expectations of approximately $50 million by hitting an $80 million opening at the domestic box office. As for the global numbers, Godzilla and Kong were able to see a $194 million worldwide launch with $114 million coming from 64 overseas markets.

These box office numbers are against a reported production budget of $135 million. I do hope they make another movie in the franchise. Take it for what it is, and you will have fun.

Directed by Adam Wingard from a screenplay co-written by Wingard, Terry Rossio, and Simon Barrett, the second Godzilla x Kong movie has the two monsters needing to work together to face an evil giant ape and prevent the destruction of Earth from an icy threat. The cast includes Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, and more.

Though the Critic Score at Rotten Tomatoes is currently 55% based on 170 reviews, the Audience Score is an impressive 92% with an A- CinemaScore. So, yay!

As far as my opinion goes, I enjoyed watching Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. It connected to the decades-spanning lore and had some cool fight sequences. The only major thing I didn’t enjoy watching was the weird thing going on between Trapper (Stevens) and Bernie Hayes (Henry). Their interactions, including a scene where Bernie yells about wanting to kiss Trapper on the mouth, felt like using “subtext queerness” for comedy. It was disappointing to see.

Anyway, you can check my quick review of the film if you want to know more!

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Coming to the rest of the box office, we have Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire coming in second place (after falling approximately 65%) with $15.7 million, leading to a domestic total of $73.5 million, and a global gross of $108.5 million. It’s an okay movie. You can read my review here.

The reported production budget is $100 million. So, it will be interesting to see how Sony decides to continue such an iconic IP. The predecessor Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) was able to gross an approx. $204.3 million against a reported budget of $75 million. So, yeah, it’s not looking good.

Dune: Part Two placed third with a domestic gross of $11.1 million, raising the total to an impressive $252.4 million. The overseas number was $373.7 million for a worldwide total of $626.1 million. The reported production budget is $190 million. It’s safe to assume a third movie is happening. It all depends on how fast director/writer Denis Villeneuve gets around to it.

The animated Kung Fu Panda 4 followed with $10.2 million (domestic total being $151.7 million and $347.3 million globally). While the fourth installment managed to open bigger than Kung Fu Panda 2 and 3, I will be surprised if it manages to beat both of them in total gross. I was quite ‘Meh!’ about the latest entry.

The Sydney Sweeney-starring Immaculate got fifth position with $3.3 million, bringing the domestic total to $11 million. The global gross stands at around $13 million against a reported production budget of $9 million. You can watch my review here.

Did you watch Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

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(via THR)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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