Godzilla X Kong's Box Office Dominance Is More Impressive Than You Realize
Another weekend, another win for "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire." The latest entry in the MonsterVerse franchise dipped nearly 61% in its second weekend for a $31.2 million domestic haul. Even with the relatively heavy dip after the movie's impressive opening weekend, it was more than enough to top newcomers "Monkey Man" ($10.1 million) and "The First Omen" ($8.3 million). More importantly, it demonstrated that this franchise is arguably stronger than it's ever been a full decade into its run. Allow me to explain why that is.
Even though it has been in theaters for less than two full weeks, director Adam Wingard's "Godzilla x Kong" has now made $134.5 million domestically to date. That puts it above the total domestic grosses for both 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong" ($100.9 million) and 2019's "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" ($110.5 million). It's still below 2014's "Godzilla" ($200.6 million) and 2017's "Kong: Skull Island" ($168 million), but that's only for the time being. It will pass "Kong: Skull Island" in the coming days and has a real shot at overtaking "Godzilla" before all's said and done.
It's also important to point out that "Godzilla vs. Kong" was released when the pandemic was a much larger factor, and its $467.8 million global total was super impressive at the time. It's tough to say what that movie might have done under better circumstances. As for "King of the Monsters," that movie was a critical and commercial disappointment that topped out at just $383.2 million worldwide against a steep $170 million budget. That could have killed the franchise. Thankfully, that didn't happen and the MonsterVerse has rebounded in a big way.
The MonsterVerse is back from the brink of extinction
Warner Bros. and Legendary were already deep into production on "GvK" when "King of the Monsters" floundered. They were committed to at least releasing that movie. Fortunately, Wingard delivered a real crowd-pleaser that benefited greatly from being one of the first major blockbusters to hit theaters after they reopened following the pandemic. Because things went so well, "Godzilla x Kong" got the green light, with Wingard returning. Here we stand with this film quite possibly on the verge of becoming the biggest MonsterVerse movie globally before the end of its run.
As it stands, "GxK" has pulled in $226.5 million overseas, giving it a global total of $361 million and counting. At the rate things are going, it should finish with at least $500 million worldwide on the low end. But if things go well, it could easily overtake "Godzilla" ($529 million) and quite possibly "Kong: Skull Island" ($561 million) to become the new champion of the MonsterVerse. Oh, and did we mention that Wingard managed to make this movie on a shockingly low $135 million budget? That being the case, it's probably only a matter of time before WB and Legendary announce the next chapter in this very successful cinematic universe. Long live the kings.
Whether or not Wingard returns to round out his Godzilla/Kong trilogy remains uncertain. The director has indicated a desire to return, but he's also got several other projects in the hopper, including a "Thundercats" film and a potential "Face/Off" sequel. So we'll have to see how the chips fall. But it would be difficult to imagine the studio letting the franchise end here given how well things are going.
"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is in theaters now.