News

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Film Earns US$570 Million Worldwide, Now Highest-Grossing Film in 'Monsterverse' Series

Entertainment news website Deadline reported on Sunday that the Godzilla vs. Kong film sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is now the highest-grossing movie in Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment's "Monsterverse" series, with US$570 million earnings worldwide, beating the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island, which earned US$568.8 million.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire film's domestic and international earnings are now at US$196.3 million and US$373.7 million, respectively. The film is the highest-grossing "Monsterverse" title in 35 markets including Brazil, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The film is also currently the second highest-grossing Hollywood film this year, with Dune: Part Two currently holding the top spot. Deadline previously reported that Warner Bros. is the first studio to cross the US$1 billion mark at the international box office this year, with the two films as its biggest releases this year so far.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opened in the United States on March 29, two weeks earlier than its previous planned April 12 date. (The April 12 release was itself a delay from its original March 15 opening.)

The film earned abut US$8 million during its preview screenings on March 28 in roughly 3,400 locations in the U.S. The earnings mark the second-best previews for a "Monsterverse" movie, as 2014's Godzilla earned US$9.3 million in preview screenings. The film earned US$80 million in its opening weekend in the U.S., topping the box office for the weekend.

The film opened in Japan on April 26, and debuted at #2 in the box office. The film sold 306,000 tickets and earned 466,704,060 yen (about US$2.97 million in current conversion) in its first four days (the film opened on a long weekend). The film has earned a cumulative total of 1,628,014,180 yen (about US$10.36 million) as of May 26.

The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that the film's director Adam Wingard will not return for its sequel due to "timing issues." Wingard is reportedly planning to direct an original movie titled Onslaught this fall, before taking on any other projects. The Hollywood Reporter has also reported that screenwriter David Callaham (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: ACross the Spider-Verse films) will write the script for the next work in the series, and Grant Sputore (I Am Mother) will direct.

Source: Deadline (Anthony D'Alessandro)