Godzilla vs Kong dominates the Box Office

BLAKE & WANG P.A one of the best entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles is proud to announce that Godzilla vs Kong has, as we predicted a few weeks ago, gone on to bust the post-crisis Box Office records. Let’s take a look at the details.

Concurrent streaming release not expected to affect theaters

Godzilla vs Kong is, of course, also released on HBO Max for its first 31 days, with the theatrical release rolling in on 24th March. Coming hot on the heels of NYC and LA theaters reopening, it represents a welcome drawcard (and cash injection) for the hard-hit exhibition industry. It has delivered, with a $123 million opening weekend and an estimated $20M-$30M further through the week. It’s been booked for over 10,000 private screenings across U.S theaters, too.

Needless to say, this is the best domestic debut we’ve seen in a year, and it far eclipses Wonder Woman 1984, which was anticipated to play this recovery role last year but didn’t quite manage it. Not to downplay Wonder Woman 1984’s achievements, of course.

A strong Easter Weekend anticipated and Regal reopens

We’ve seen the L. A county exhibition industry cleared to move from 25% to 50% capacity this week. Regal has also come back into play after a 5-month closure. With this good news, it means that people around the U.S will be able to take in a movie over the Easter Weekend, something they could not do last year. Despite drive-ins having a renewed heyday, this time last year saw DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour cause controversy after it was released on premium VOD alongside its tiny theatrical release. It certainly did well, clearing $100 million despite the tumultuous events surrounding it, but the move was not well received by the exhibition industry.

A record buster for the circumstances

While these numbers are still low for pre-crisis debuts, viewed within the dismal framework of a year with theaters shuttered there’s much to celebrate. Despite little more than half of America’s cinemas being open, the movie will reach 6000 screens, the widest release to date post-crisis.

There’s still a lot of reopening to go, of course. Canada’s exhibition industry remains mostly dark, with PVOD the only means to see the film. Regal is still playing it very cautiously, reopening 22 of their 542 venues. Yet Godzilla vs Kong can dominate IMAX and PLFs for April, until the release of Mortal Kombat.

Current theatrical landscape aside, it’s also managed to receive very positive reviews, outstripping the other four Legendary Monster movies to date. The franchise as a whole has netted more than $1.6 billion across the global box office, and while Godzilla vs Kong may be opening in still-troubled circumstances, it seems it will not shame the other entries in the series nor the theaters that were relying on it to help them stage a comeback. Let’s hope we only see positive growth for the exhibition industry- and the movie industry as a whole- from here on out.