Godzilla Minus Zero Stomps Into 3,254 Theaters, Tracking Nearly Triple the Last Monster's Opening

The King of the Monsters is going big this time.

Godzilla Minus Zero opens today in 3,254 North American theaters and is tracking toward a roughly $30 million domestic opening, Variety reported, with Boxoffice Pro's range at $25 million to $35 million and Gold Derby's at $25 million to $33 million. Deadline has the film on course for about $60 million worldwide.

For scale: Godzilla Minus One opened to about $11.4 million in North America in December 2023, then became a word-of-mouth phenomenon and won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, the first Oscar for any Godzilla film. If tracking holds, the sequel nearly triples that opening.

Japan already said yes

The film opened Tuesday in Japan with $5.7 million on its first day, nearly three times the first film's opening day, according to Deadline's weekend preview. Imax fan screenings ran earlier this week and roll into Thursday previews.

Who's in the ring

The main rival is Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, the animated adaptation, which Variety pegs at $20 million to $25 million, though estimates swing widely. The Indian epic Ramayana: Part 1 also lands this weekend after record-setting Bollywood previews in North America.

Why it matters

Theaters need it. Last weekend's box office hit a 2026 low, MediaPost reported, with A24's You Can See Everything on top at about $10.8 million. A $30 million monster weekend would be the biggest jolt the business has had in weeks, and it would show again that a subtitled, non-Hollywood film can lead the US chart.

Newswire Hollywood will post the weekend numbers Sunday. Are you seeing it in Imax or waiting for streaming?

Sources: Variety, Deadline, Boxoffice Pro, Gold Derby and MediaPost. Links are in the story where available. Reported independently by Newswire Hollywood in our own words.