Weekend Box Office: 'Godzilla' Demolishes All Competition
Director Gareth Edwards has a lot to be happy about. His U.S. reboot of the Godzilla franchise debuted to a box office-shattering $93.2 million, which is now the second-best opening of the year. The movie also did incredible business overseas, as the movie opened with $103 million from 64 markets for a global box office total of $196.2 million. The film has already turned a profit on its $160 million budget, and the blockbuster is looking like it's only just getting started.
Godzilla got off to such a monstrously successful start on Friday that some pundits predicting an opening north of $98 million for the weekend, but even while the movie didn't match those lofty expectations, it far exceeded the initial studio projections going into the weekend. It may have failed to top Captain America: The Winter Soldier's $95 million opening, but it was easily able to topple the $91.6 million opening of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, taking the spot as the No. 2 opening of the year so far. The movie is such a success that Warner Bros. and Legendary are reportedly already looking ahead to the sequel.
"The tone of the movie was effectively communicated through the marketing," said Legendary's president and chief creative officer Jon Jashni, who added that the likelihood of a sequel will depend on how well the movie holds up over the coming weeks against such challenges as next weekend's X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Credit: Warner Bros.
As for its competitors at this weekend's box office, last weekend's champ remained steady: Neighbors fell just 47 percent in its second weekend, bringing in $26 million for a domestic gross of $91.5 million. This was good enough to secure the No. 2 spot over The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which took a 54 percent hit in its third weekend to earn about $16.8 million. This brings its North American gross to $172.1 million. Coupled with the $31.5 million grossed from overseas markets, the sequel has now reached an impressive $633.1 million.
However, there was one other new offering opening this weekend besides Godzilla: Disney's Million Dollar Arm, which stars Jon Hamm as a sports agent looking to sign the first MLB star from India. The movie, which cost $25 million to make, opened to a disappointing $10.5 million. This settled the movie in at No. 4 for the weekend, just ahead of The Other Woman, which fell to No. 5 with $6.5 million.
Heaven Is For Real continues to have legs, coming in at No. 6 in its second month of release. But this goodwill did not carry over to TriStar's other Christian release, the comedy Moms' Night Out. The movie, which opened to disappointing numbers last weekend, continued to fall, just barely clinging onto the Top 10 with $1.9 million. Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return also continues to plummet after last week's painful opening, earning only $1.95 million. With summer movie season getting into full swing, it'll be tough to imagine either movie hanging on.
Check out the full Top 10 below:
1. Godzilla ($93.2 million)
2. Neighbors ($26 million)
3. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($16.8 million)
4. Million Dollar Arm ($10.5 million)
5. The Other Woman ($6.3 million)
6. Heaven Is for Real ($4.4 million)
7. Rio 2 ($3.8 million)
8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($3.75 million)
9. Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return ($1.95 million)
10. Moms' Night Out ($1.9 million)