Godzilla Minus Zero tops US box office with record $31.6m opening

Godzilla Minus Zero, a Japanese-language film, topped the North American box office with $31.6 million in its opening weekend, generating $63 million worldwide and setting a record for live-action foreign-language releases. The 39th film in the franchise, shown with English subtitles, earned $5.75 million on its opening day in Japan, more than doubling the debut of its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the film is set in 1949 and features Godzilla battling a three-headed nemesis, Ghidorah. The film’s near-simultaneous global release exceeded industry expectations, with analyst David A Gross noting its opening was nearly three times that of Godzilla Minus One in December 2023. It faces competition from the Indian epic Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, which earned $55.7 million globally.