Following the release of Dune: Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Legendary/Warner Bros‘ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has continued to dominate the box office. This surge in box office performance comes after a period of lack of event titles in Q1 due to the strikes. The Adam Wingard directed monster mash movie has seen a significant $8M from previews that began at 3 PM Thursday in approximately 3,400 locations. This marks one of the best previews ever for a Legendary’s Monsterverse movie, second only to the 2014 Godzilla, which garnered $9.3M.
Projections and Reviews
Despite the absence of comments from Warner Bros on tonight’s estimates, opening domestic projections for Godzilla x Kong earlier in the week were expected to reach $50M. While Rotten Tomatoes critics have given the movie a rating of 56%, audiences have a different opinion with a rating of 92%. This discrepancy in reviews raises questions about the movie’s true reception and its potential impact on future box office performance. The previous audience favorite in the series was 2021’s Godzilla v. Kong, also directed by Wingard, which opened to $48.1M over the Easter holiday period.
Exhibition Strategy
Godzilla x Kong is expected to play in 3,850 theaters on Friday, with additional boosts from Imax, PLFs, ScreenX, D-Box, and 4DX technology. Furthermore, there will be some sharing of Imax auditoriums with Legendary and Warner’s Dune: Part Two. The latter has emerged as the highest-grossing title of 2024 to date, raking in $239.3M in the US and almost $600M worldwide. This sharing of Imax auditoriums raises questions about the potential impact on both movies’ box office performance and audience reception.
The release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has significantly impacted the box office following a lack of major event titles in Q1. With promising opening numbers and divergent reviews from critics and audiences, the movie is poised to be a major player in the box office landscape. However, factors such as competition from other blockbuster releases and the shared exhibition strategy with Dune: Part Two may influence its ultimate success. Only time will tell how Godzilla x Kong will fare in the ever-evolving movie industry.