“Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” Records 2024’s Biggest Opening Weekend

“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” demolished opening weekend records with a $194 million worldwide debut. The kaiju saga from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. easily scored the biggest start of 2024 so far.

The film ravaged North American theaters with an $80 million domestic opening from 3,861 locations. That gave it the second-highest debut of the year domestically behind only “Dune: Part Two” ($82.5M). It’s also the second-largest domestic launch ever for Legendary’s MonsterVerse franchise after 2014’s “Godzilla” ($93M).

However, it was on the international stage where “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” flexed its biggest muscles. A massive $44 million haul from China alone powered the film to claim 2024’s largest worldwide opening to date.

The turnout in China underscores the franchise’s enduring popularity and fanbase in that crucial marketplace. The 2021 film “Godzilla vs. Kong” previously saw a $70M debut in China, nearly doubling its $48M domestic opening that same weekend during the pandemic era’s theatrical challenges.

Audiences were clearly drawn to the big-screen spectacle of seeing the iconic kaiju titans Godzilla and King Kong sharing the big screen as allies rather than adversaries as in the last film. While reviews were mixed at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, the pull of the kaiju clash proved irresistible, especially at premium IMAX locations which accounted for around $20M of global ticket sales.

Directed by Michael Dougherty, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens and Kaylee Hottle. The sci-fi action epic shows Godzilla and Kong banding together against a newly emerged threat that puts all of humanity at risk.

With a reported $135M production budget already surpassed, the runaway success of the MonsterVerse’s fifth installment extends an incredibly hot streak for Warner Bros. after recent hit releases like “Wonka” ($632M global) and “Dune: Part Two” ($626M worldwide so far).

The entire MonsterVerse franchise has now amassed over $2 billion at the global box office across its five films dating back to 2014’s “Godzilla.” That monster hit kicked off the modern re-imagining of Toho’s iconic kaiju properties.

While the opening numbers are staggering, the bigger question is whether “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” has the sort of “leg” power to eventually top the $470M worldwide total of 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

With summer movie season still ahead and no comparable competition on the horizon, the likelihood is high that the new film will continue reigning over box office charts for weeks to come.