- Content: GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE Lands New Box Office High for Monsterverse
By Movieguide® Contributor
The Monsterverse is being brought to new highs by GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, which has grossed over $570 million at the worldwide box office.
“The film feels like a cinematic event,” said producer Mary Parent. “It delivers in fresh ways we haven’t seen from these characters.”
In breaking $570 million, the movie has cemented itself as the highest-grossing installment in the franchise, squeezing past 2017’s KONG SKULL ISLAND, which ended its run at $568 million.
THE NEW EMPIRE had a fantastic start when it was released at the end of March, nearly doubling its estimated gross of $45 million, bringing home $80 million during its debut weekend. Its continued popularity has helped it bloom to become the No. 2 movie of the year, trailing at the box office only to DUNE: PART TWO.
The movie picks up after the events of the previous movie where Godzilla and King Kong found mutual respect for each other after a massive battle. Rather than wreaking havoc, the two monsters team up to fight an emerging threat jeopardizing the future of humanity. A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
GODZILLA X KONG takes a while to expose the new villain and what’s really happening in Hollow Earth. However, there’s lots of exciting action before those revelations occur, and afterwards. GODZILLA X KONG has a strong moral worldview. The story’s goals are to protect human civilization and restore a fallen kingdom. GODZILLA X KONG also promotes the love between a mother and her adopted daughter. It’s marred, however, by lots of mostly light foul language and intense, scary violence featuring giant monsters.
While THE NEW EMPIRE is popular domestically, it has really found its wings internationally where it has connected with audiences that aren’t typically drawn to Hollywood movies, such as those in China, India and Japan.
Movieguide® previously reported:
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE had the second-strongest opening weekend this year, drawing audiences in through strong morals and epic battles.
The movie opened to just over $80 million domestically and an additional $114 million from 64 territories internationally. Audiences were eager to see the monsters in full effect as premium formats like Imax and Dolby Cinema accounted for 48% of the movie’s business.
GODZILLA X KONG marks the fifth movie in the “MonsterVerse” franchise, which also had a spinoff TV series on Apple TV+. Despite the IP’s massive fanbase worldwide, the movie’s success was never guaranteed.
“There’s nothing as a filmmaker that can prepare you for doing a movie with characters of 6-foot scale and 300-foot scale working together and all the insane mechanics that go along with making a kaiju movie,” director Adam Wingard told the L.A. Times. “I knew that I wasn’t done with the series because I knew there were untapped reservoirs of potential in terms of what could be done with the monsters.”
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +4