‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Has Record-Breaking Opening Weekend
by Emily Nagle
Less than a week into its release, “Godzilla vs. Kong” is shattering box office records for the ongoing pandemic.
This weekend, the movie raked in a monstrous $32 million. That’s nearly twice as much money as Wonder Woman 1984, which previously held the title for the biggest opening weekend during a pandemic, made during Christmas ($16.7 million). After only five days of release, the long-awaited monster brawl has grossed $48.5 million total. Even across the planet, “Godzilla vs. Kong” is excelling in the box office, bringing in $44 million from China over the weekend. In total, the film has grossed $285 million worldwide since its debut.
What do these numbers mean? Media professionals see them as promising, and evidence of recovery from a year of lockdown and dark, deserted movie theaters. Jeff Bock, a media analyst at Exhibitor Relations, explains, “This is a great sign that the release calendar will stabilize and audiences everywhere will have a bonafide summer of blockbusters. With vaccinations being dished out at a record pace and social distancing protocols still in place, we should see a nice ramp up into summer cinema.” Although we still have a ways to go before the pandemic ends and the world goes “back to normal,” we’re already seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after a long year of capacity restrictions and shut-down theaters.
The fourth MonsterVerse film’s successful premiere suggests that the films slated to debut this summer will perform well at the box office, including “Cruella” (May 28), “Fast and Furious 9” (June 25), and “Top Gun: Maverick” (July 2). In other words, it is highly likely that summer 2021 will be financially successful for Hollywood.
