Welcome to the spring of sequels. It’s not surprising thatGodzilla x Kong: The New Empiresecured the No. 1 spot at the domesticbox officeover the weekend, but what is amazing is that four sequels (The New Empire, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Dune: Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4) all placed in the Top 4 over the Easter holiday. But this box office round-up is all about the King of the Monsters and the King of Hollow Earth. When Godzilla and Kong finished tussling with the overmatched Skar King,The New Empiremade an estimated $80 million domestically (perThe Numbers) during its debut.
The fifth big-screen installment in Legendary’s MonsterVerse also vaulted the film franchise over the $2-billion mark as a whole. AndThe New Empire’snumbers also mark the second-biggest opening of all the MonsterVerse entries, following director Gareth Edwards’Godzilla(2014), which made $93.2 million during its debut.The New Empirefared even better internationally with an impressive $114 million for a worldwide take of $194 million.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
When figuring inThe New Empire’spreview screenings from Thursday, which resulted in another $10 million, Godzilla and King Kong’s latest big screen team-up finished with a four-day total of $90 million domestically. The only film to open stronger thanThe New Empirein 2024 isDune: Part Two, which made a three-day total of $82.5 million during its debut earlier this month — compared toGodzilla x Kong’s$80 million 3-day.
A Monstrous Money-Making March
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empirefar exceeded itsoriginal box office forecastfrom early March, and the kaiju film became an integral part of the second-biggest opening weekend of 2024 so far. This weekend’s estimated domestic box office resulted in a total of $135.3 million, which comes in just behind March 8-10’s overall gross of $136.1 million. The President of Warner Bros. Domestic Distribution, Jeff Goldstein, said ofThe New Empire’ssuccess (perDeadline):
“This is a huge, fun Easter movie for the whole family.A big shoutout to Legendary, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Co-Chiefs Mike De Luca and Pamela Abdy for supporting the date and Warner Bros. Worldwide Marketing President Josh Goldstine foran extraordinary campaign.”
Godzilla x Kong Ending, Explained: Why There Was No Post-Credit Scene
We break down the bonkers conclusion of MonsterVerse’s newest outing, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empiredropped 65% between its first and second weekends, but still landed the No. 2 spot domestically with $15.7 million.Dune: Part Two($11.1 million) took No. 3, while No. 4 went toKung Fu Panda 4($10.2 million). And Sydney Sweeney’sImmaculatehorror film rounded out the Top 5 with $3.3 million.
Liam Neeson’s latest big-screen adventure,In the Land of Saints and Sinners, failed to crack the Top 10, as it settled for the No. 11 slot with just over $1 million. And it comes as no surprise thatThe New Empiresecured the highest per-theater average this weekend with $20,720 per cinema.
The romantic dramaSomeone Like Youopens in theaters on Tuesday, April 2, andThe First Omenbegins its theatrical run on Friday, April 5.
