New 'Godzilla Vs. Kong' Movie Sets a Global Pandemic Box Office Record

The Los Angeles Times reports:

This weekend's international rollout of Warner Bros.' 'Godzilla vs. Kong' set a new pandemic record for a Hollywood film, a hopeful sign of an imminent return to moviegoing.

The film, which opens in North American theaters and on HBO Max on Wednesday, debuted in 38 overseas markets to an impressive $121.8 million, including $70.3 million in Chinese receipts. That's the biggest debut for a Hollywood film in China since 2019. The monster smackdown also grossed $12.4 million on 891 IMAX screens, also Hollywood's biggest IMAX weekend since December 2019.

The 'Godzilla vs. Kong' debut outperformed the entire to-date international gross of the studio's December blockbuster release of 'Wonder Woman 1984,' which currently stands at $120 million overseas (and an additional $45.9 million domestic), according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore. The previous benchmark for a pandemic-era overseas opening was the $53-million launch of the studio's 'Tenet' in August 2020.

While American theaters are slowly reopening en masse after a roller-coaster year of reopenings and closings, movie houses including Regal and smaller chains (such as L.A.'s ArcLight) have not yet returned. Despite theaters operating at limited capacity, Universal's R-rated action flick 'Nobody' debuted this weekend across 2,460 North American screens to $6.7 million. L.A. and New York City, both recently reopened, were the two highest-grossing markets.

Long-time Slashdot reader destinyland calls this 'Good news for Godzilla fans. But bad news if you think all those movie-goers should still be staying home social distancing!'

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