Warner Bros.
FRIDAY NIGHT: This is what a good weekend at the box office should look like. A studio enters the frame expecting an “X” and ends up with a significantly higher “Y”. It was definitely a good Friday for Legendary and Warner Bros with more business than expected as Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom is now releasing a $35 million day one (plus previews) paving the way for a $75 million opening weekend. Additionally, the sequel attracted a A-CinemaScorewhich is the second highest CinemaScore for a Monsterverse film after 2021’s Godzilla vs. Kong, which was also directed by Adam Wingard.
Godzilla x KongEaster weekend is still the second best Monsterverse debut in the United States and Canada, but also the fifth best Easter weekend after Warner Bros. Batman v Superman ($181 million), Universal/Illumination Super Mario Bros movie ($166.4 million), Universal Furious 7 ($161.2 million) and Uni’s The Fate of the Furious ($107.3 million).
We’ll have more for you in the morning.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON: No monkey business here. Legendary and Warner Bros. $135 million production Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom explodes the projections with a $31 million Friday (including last night’s record-breaking $10 million Monsterverse previews) and 3 days of $67 million in 3,861 sites. This is the second-best U.S. start for a Legendary Monsterverse film, behind Godzilla’s $93.1 million in 2014 and ahead of 2017 Kong: Skull Island ($61 million).
No, it’s not the one from last year The Super Mario Bros movie, which notched the second-best Easter weekend opening ever, with $166 million, but that’s a substantial amount of money to keep the turnstiles spinning. Rotten Tomatoes audience score climbed to 93% for GxK.
Sony’s Second Friday Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is $5.1 million in 4,345 theaters, -68% compared to a week ago, for what promises to be a second frame of $14 millionfor a cumulative total of $71.4 million.
Third, DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s Kung Fu Panda 4 on 3,582 sites, representing a fourth Friday of $4.3 million and a fourth weekend of $10.8 million-35%, for a cumulative total of $152.2 million.
Legendary and Warners also hold fourth place with the fifth image from Dune: part two, who looks like $10.5 million-40%, for a cumulative total of $251.7 million. Holding up well in 3,136 theaters, and that’s without a ton of Imax screens. Friday is at $3.6M, -18%.
The fifth is Neon’s Immaculate in 2,362 theaters with a second Friday of 1 million dollars-50%, and a second image of $2.8 million-48%, for a cumulative total of $10.7 million.
FRIDAY AM: Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom do 10 million dollars in previews, according to Warner Bros – the best ever for Legendary’s Monsterverse, beating the first film in the series, 2014’s Godzilla, which grossed $9.3 million. There was a lot of walk-in work Thursday night. As we told you last night, the audience score on this subject is high. PostTrak is 5 stars. This is a really fun creature feature with a lot of heart; damn, it’s even better than Jurassic World: Domination. Seriously.
Tracking company Quorum this morning raised its projections for the high-end film to between $66 million and $74 million. Godzilla x Kong is the only new wide studio entry this weekend.
Good Friday is always a big day at the box office, so we’ll see where this takes Warners. According to ComScore, 77% of K-12 schools are on break today, along with 39% of middle schools. The Monday after Easter is also looking good with 57% off at K-12 schools and 14% off at colleges.
Social media monitor RelishMix says the social media universe on TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram is 508.8 million, or 39% ahead of sci-fi standards. It’s also not that far from the Legendary/Warner Bros. one. Dune: second part, which had a reach of 575.7 million.
Although RelishMix says word of mouth has been mixed ahead of the previews, perhaps sentiment will change. Don’t forget that fans always come out on Thursday.
RelishMix reports: “Franchise enthusiasts are excited about the latest installment, with trailers sporting fan theories such as ‘Could this be the Kong Titanus Tiamat killed?’ Or is he a crazy veteran of the Great Titan War?’ Fans also appreciate that this film addresses the absurdity of its concept, saying, “It’s such a good time to be a Kaiju fan.” And I love how this show leans towards stupid insanity” as well as “This is so ridiculous!” I can’t wait to watch it.’
Elsewhere Thursday, Sony Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ranked No. 1 among regularly released films with $2.7 million in 4,345 theaters, down 6% from Wednesday, bringing its first week to $57.7 million. While the film opened higher than its 2021 predecessor Ghostbusters: The Afterlife, $45 million to $44 million, the first week of Frozen Empire here is behind Life after death by 9%. Remember, Life after death played its first week on Thanksgiving.
Universal Images / Courtesy Everett Collection
DreamWorks Animation and Universal Kung Fu Panda 4 posted a third Thursday of $2.1 million in 3,805 theaters, +5% compared to Wednesday for a third week of $25 million, totaling $141.4 million. The fourth part will eclipse the national version of Kung Fu Panda 3 today which ended at $143.5 million. KFP4 is 14% behind compared to 2008 Kung Fu Pandathat makes domestic sperm for three weeks.
Legendary/Warner Dune: part two did $1.9M at 3,437 on its fourth Thursday, -12% compared to Wednesday for a fourth week of $25.5 million and a cumulative total of $241.2 million.
The fourth belongs to the horror film Sydney Sweeney from Neon Immaculate, in 2,354 rooms. Thursday estimate $636,000 ends the first week of the photo at $7.8 million.
Fathom has another set of The chosen episodes, which were approximately $494,000 Thursday in 1,037 locations.
FRIDAY 12:03 a.m.: After Dune: Part Two, Kung Fu Panda 4 And Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Legendary/Warner Bros’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom continues to build momentum at the box office following a lack of event titles in the first quarter due to strikes. Sources tell us the Adam Wingard-directed Monster Mash movie is seeing 8 million dollars starting with Thursday previews that began at 3 p.m. at approximately 3,400 locations. This is arguably the second best preview ever for a Legendary’s Monsterverse movie, after the first. Godzilla in 2014, which posted $9.3 million. This Gareth Edwards-led lizard adventure grossed $38.4 million on its first Friday with a 3-day period of $93.1 million.
Warner Bros. did not respond to our request for comment on tonight’s estimates.
Opening of national screenings for Godzilla x Kong earlier this week stood at $50 million.
While Rotten Tomatoes reviews gave gXK second worst reviews for the Monsterverse at 56%, RT audiences currently think it’s the best of the legendary lizard/monkey films at 92%. We’ll see if it calms down. The previous audience favorite in the series? 2021 Godzilla vs. Kong, which was also directed by Wingard and opened over the Easter holiday period to a $48.1 million run over five days – reviving cinema after a year-long shutdown of the exhibition in major box markets -office. GvK was available day and date in theaters and on Warner’s streaming service then called HBO Max.
GxK is expected to play in 3,850 theaters Friday, boosted by Imax, PLF, ScreenX, D-Box and 4DX. There will also be a sharing of Imax auditoriums with Legendary and Warner. Dune: part two. This film is the highest-grossing title of 2024 so far, grossing $239.3 million in the United States and nearly $600 million worldwide.
Gn entert
News Source : deadline.com
