‘Godzilla x Kong’ Stomps to Massive Debut at Box Office

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Credit: Warner Bros.)

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire surpassed expectations at the box office with a monstrous $80.0 million debut.

The action sequel opened in first place after ringing up $37 million on Friday, $26.6 million Saturday, and a projected $16.4 million on Sunday, box office tracking company Comscore reported.

Analysts had expected the film to debut in the $50 million rage. Its better-than-expected $80 million total marked the 2nd best opening of the Legendary and Warner Bros. MonsterVerse after Godzilla debuted with $93 million in 2014.

Directed by Adam Wingard, the new film stars Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Brian Tyree Henry, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen, and Kaylee Hottle.

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This latest entry in the franchise follows Kong uniting with Godzilla to stop a climate-changing Titan from wreaking havoc on humanity.

Audiences liked what they saw and gave the film an “A-” CinemaScore.

Movie critics were split and handed the action adventure a 55 percent score out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes.

“The most enjoyable MonsterVerse movie yet,” wrote Ian Sandwell of Digital Spy.

But Robert Daniels of Mashable wasn’t impressed. “About halfway through Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, I turned to a fellow critic to ask a desperate question: What the hell is this movie about?” Daniels wrote.

Despite the criticism, the film turned out to be a global hit. It raked in $114.0 million abroad, for a massive worldwide total of $194.0 million — against a reported production budget of $135 million.

Elsewhere at the domestic box office this weekend, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was ghosted by moviegoers. After debuting in the top spot last weekend with $45 million, it fell to second place with just $15.7 million, Comscore reported.

Dune: Part Two was third with $11.1 million Friday through Sunday in its fifth week in theaters.

Kung Fu Panda 4 took fourth place with $10.2 million in its fourth week, and Immaculate rounded out the top five with $3.2 million in its second weekend of release.


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About Anita Bennett

Anita Bennett is the editor and founder of Urban Hollywood 411. She can be reached on Twitter @tvanita.