It looks like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is roaring its way to a much better opening weekend than expected. The industry was predicting a $50 million opening (including us), but audiences are turning out in droves to this MonsterVerse epic. Deadline is reporting that the film is tracking towards a $75 million opening, with a good A- CinemaScore. It’s an interesting turnaround for a series that, before the pandemic, seemed to be totally running out of steam. Yet, when everything closed down, one of the few movies released theatrically was Godzilla Vs Kong, which also went day and date on HBO Max, and proved to be a big hit, grossing around $100 million domestically. While that sounds low, theatres were closed everywhere, so this was considered a big number (and overseas, it was a blockbuster).
Certainly, Adam Wingard’s movie won the series a whole lot of fans. This potential $75 million opening can’t be considered anything other than a triumph for a series that’s always made most of its money overseas.
However, the downside of Godzilla x Kong sucking up all the family audiences over Easter Weekend is the utter collapse of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire at the box office. Deadline is predicting a ghastly 68% drop, with it likely only to make about $14 million this weekend. This is a disaster for the franchise (read our rankings here). It’s not making all that much more than Kung Fu Panda 4 in its fourth weekend and Dune: Part Two in its fifth weekend, with both looking at grosses in the $10 million-ish range. In the end, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire may have a hard time even reaching $100 million domestically, which could well spell the end of this franchise on the big screen.
If you liked Godzilla x Kong, make sure to check out our MonsterVerse movie rankings right here!
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