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Godzilla Minus Zero opens to $30.5 million in North America
Variety reports that Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $30.5 million in North America from 3,254 theaters, down from Sunday estimates of $31.6 million, with $31.4 million overseas and a $62 million global total in that tally.
TIGGEEK Newsroom · · 3 min read
Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $30.5 million in North America, Variety reports, from 3,254 theaters. The figure is an update from Sunday estimates of $31.6 million. The R-rated Toho film, distributed in the United States by Gkids, reached theaters on Friday, November 6, 2026.
What Variety reports for the weekend
Variety's updated tally puts the domestic opening at $30.5 million. Overseas, the trade reports $31.4 million from 77 markets, for a $62 million global total in that accounting.
Variety writes that those North American ticket sales "register as the largest opening for a live-action foreign-language film in North America, shattering the record set by China's martial arts-inspired Hero with $17.8 million in 2002." That record claim is Variety's, based on its comparison with Hero. This article is reporting Variety's wording, not independently re-ranking box-office history.
Premium large formats did a lot of the work in Variety's breakdown. The trade says Imax contributed $12.7 million, or 40% of the domestic gross, and that premium large formats, including Dolby, accounted for 74% of ticket sales. Variety also states, "It's the first Japanese production ever filmed for Imax." That is a claim in Variety's report and is attributed to the trade here.
The film was directed by Takashi Yamazaki and follows 2023's Godzilla Minus One, which Variety says opened to $11.4 million and went on to $57 million in North America and $113 million worldwide. Variety cites a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" CinemaScore for Minus Zero.
How the distributors described it
Chance Huskey, vice president of distribution for Gkids, told Variety: "We're so happy to see audiences embrace 'Godzilla Minus Zero' at an unprecedented scale for an international film." He called the release a "landmark" and credited a campaign by Gkids and Toho that "emphasized the 'must-see' intensity of the theatrical experience." Those are the distributor's words.
The same weekend, Variety reports, The Cat in the Hat opened to $20 million from 4,003 theaters. That comparison is part of Variety's weekend frame; it is not a ranking this site is declaring on its own.
The takeaway
The number to use is Variety's updated $30.5 million domestic opening, not the higher Sunday estimate. The trade also credits the film with the largest North American opening for a live-action foreign-language release, beating Hero's $17.8 million in 2002 — a record claim that belongs to Variety's reporting. Imax and other premium screens, in that same account, carried a large share of the domestic total.
Cover image: The Shinjuku Toho Building on Godzilla Street in Tokyo, photographed in 2019 by Another Believer. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The photo shows the Tokyo street and building, not a still from Godzilla Minus Zero.
Key facts
- Domestic opening
- $30.5 million from 3,254 theaters, per Variety
- Sunday estimate
- $31.6 million
- Overseas / global
- $31.4 million overseas; $62 million global, per Variety
- Opened
- Friday, November 6, 2026