Godzilla v Kong

Source: Warner Bros.

‘Godzilla v Kong’

Warner Bros-Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong delivered a record North American pandemic opening weekend as an estimated $32.2m Friday-Sunday session boosted the five-day tally to $48.5m.

Overall the film grossed $120.1m worldwide from 39 markets including the US and Canada for an impressive $285.4m running total.

International markets accounted for a $71.6m weekend as the tally climbed to $236.9m. The film dropped 37% in China where a $44.2m weekend on 34,000 screens boosted the running total there to $137.1m.

Godzilla vs. Kong rewrote the record books in the US and Canada in this most unusual of times.

Comps are redundant given the ever-shifting sands and compromised cinema operation. However for the record the film reached the following high-water marks during the pandemic: available cinemas (3,064, by Friday); opening day (Wednesday, $9.6m); single day (Saturday, $12.5m); and opening weekend (three day $32.2m; five-day $48.5m).

The tentpole is also available on HBO Max in North America and while executives said it has been the most popular film since the platform launched, they did not provide data.

Warner Bros executives indicated approximately 55% of North American cinemas are open at restricted capacity representing around 92% of available box office. In Canada roughly 20% of box office is available. The studio supplemented Canadian box office by making the film available on PVoD, which executives said brought in around $3m.

Over five days the monster mash-up grossed $9.6m on Wednesday; dropped 30% on Thursday for $6.7m; gained 73% on Friday for $11.6m; gained 8% on Saturday for $12.5m; and dropped 35% on Sunday for $8.1m.

The top 10 North American markets were: Los Angeles; New York; Dallas; Houston; Phoenix; Chicago; San Francisco; Salt Lake City; Orlando; and Atlanta.

By location the top 10 was as follows: Cinemark Tinseltown El Paso; AMC Burbank Los Angeles; Santikos Palladium San Antonio; AMC Orange Los Angeles; Consolidated Victoria Ward Stadium Honolulu; AMC Edinburg Texas; AMC Disney Springs Orlando; AMC Gulf Pointe Houston; Santikos Casa Blanca San Antonio; and Cinemark Pharr Town Center Texas.

Studio executives also said they had received an “enormous boost” from private “pod” rental bookings at participating cinema circuits, but did not provide numbers.

Imax circuits delivered $13m worldwide for $28m, and a pandemic-best $4.5m in North America.