‘Godzilla x Kong’ Will Bunny Hop To $135M Global Opening As Legendary Monsterverse Franchise Roars To $2 Billion+ – Box Office Preview
26.03.2024 - 19:45
/ deadline.com
Nothing says Easter tentpole quite like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire which is set to conquer the world with a box office debut around $135M, bolstered by 63 foreign markets and 3,850 theaters stateside.
Warner Bros had great fortune in releasing the Legendary IP during Easter 2021 with Godzilla vs. Kong, luring audiences back to moviegoing after a year’s Covid quarantine, and the studio opted to stick to that frame. Godzilla vs. Kong made $48M in a stateside five-day launch, day-and-date with a drop on HBO Max at the time. If these domestic figures for New Empire hold up, it will rep the third stateside opening for the Monsterverse at the domestic B.O. after 2014’s Godzilla ($93.1M) and 2017’s Kong: Skull Island ($61M). Previews in U.S. and Canada start at 3PM Thursday and New Empire will have all the nuclear powers of premium ticket upcharges, i.e. Imax, PLF, 4DX, ScreenX, DBox, etc. Legendary/Warner Bros other hit movie will retain some Imax screens over the holiday weekend.
The movie cost before P&A a net of $135M, 75% funded by Legendary with Warner Bros covering 25%.
Filmmaker Adam Wingard’s second Godzilla movie after the 2021 edition begins its overseas rollout on Wednesday with such majors as Spain and Korea before adding Italy, Australia and all of Latin America on Thursday. On Friday, the UK and China join the fray.
The international launch is eyed in the $80M-$85M range, while domestic is around $50M per current presales. Godzilla vs Kong debuted to $105M in like-for-like overseas markets at today’s rates (including $63M from China, also at today’s exchange). So why is this one looking at a potentially softer opening? There are a number of factors.
When it released in March 2021, GvK bagged the