Godzilla Minus Zero is on course for the biggest US opening ever for a subtitled film
Toho's new film from Takashi Yamazaki took $14.5 million on Friday alone, and Saturday projections point to $32-33 million for the weekend, nearly double the $17.8 million Hero opened with in 2004. It has been in Portuguese cinemas since 4 November.
A subtitled Japanese monster is beating Hollywood on its home turf. Godzilla Minus Zero opened in the United States on Friday and topped the day with $14.5 million, more than twice the take of The Cat in the Hat, the widest new release of the week.
Saturday’s sums point to $32-33 million for the weekend, according to Forbes. If that holds, it is the biggest US opening ever for a live-action film not in English.
Which record is Godzilla Minus Zero breaking?
Hero’s. Zhang Yimou’s martial-arts epic with Jet Li opened with $17.8 million in 2004, and nothing subtitled had come close in the 22 years since. Minus Zero should land near double that, and around three times the $11.4 million its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One, opened with in 2023.
Minus One was a small-budget film that walked off with the Oscar for visual effects. The sequel arrives with bigger ambitions: it was shot for IMAX, and close to three quarters of the weekend’s money came from premium screens such as IMAX and Dolby.
Who made the new Godzilla film?
Takashi Yamazaki is back as writer, director and visual-effects supervisor, for Toho. In Japan the film opened on 3 November, “Godzilla Day”, and took ¥910 million on its first day. Critics like it (90% on Rotten Tomatoes) and so do audiences, who gave it an A CinemaScore.
The weekend matters beyond the monster. In a year owned by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and the big franchises, a subtitled film at the top of the US chart is a rare sight.
Is Godzilla Minus Zero showing in Portugal?
It is. Its European distributor, Piece of Magic Entertainment, put Portugal among the 46 markets getting it from 4 November. If you want the full effect, take the hint from the US numbers and find the biggest screen you can.
By Lucy Bennett
Image: TOHO / Piece of Magic Entertainment