Godzilla Minus Zero Opens to $31.6 Million and Sets Record for Foreign-Language Films
Godzilla Minus Zero topped the North American box office with a $31.6 million debut, the biggest opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film, according to estimates released Sunday.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” topped the North American box office this weekend with a $31.6 million debut, according to estimates released by Rentrak on Sunday, November 8.
The opening is the biggest ever for a Japanese “Godzilla” film in the United States, and it set a record as the largest opening weekend for any live-action foreign-language movie in North America, according to Variety. The record for the biggest foreign-language opening overall still belongs to the Japanese animated film “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle,” which opened to $70.6 million in 2025, Deadline noted.
The film had taken $13.5 million on its first day in US theaters. “Godzilla Minus Zero” is the direct follow-up to “Godzilla Minus One,” the 2023 standalone reboot from Toho. “Minus One” opened to $11.4 million in North American theaters and finished its run with $57 million domestically.
A follow-up to an Oscar winner
“Godzilla Minus One” received some of the best reviews of any film in the series and became the first entry to win an Academy Award, for best visual effects. “Godzilla Minus Zero,” which held its premiere at the New York Film Festival in September, drew similarly positive reviews, according to USA Today.
The record opening suggests the Japanese-language “Godzilla” films are at the peak of their popularity in the United States, more than 70 years after the original 1954 film, and that subtitles are not a barrier to success for the franchise in North America, USA Today reported.
The rest of the weekend chart
“The Cat in the Hat,” the animated film based on the Dr. Seuss book, came in second with a $20.5 million opening. In third place was “Drummer Boy,” a historical musical from Angel Studios, with $9.3 million.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” is unrelated to the English-language “Godzilla” films produced by Legendary Pictures, a separate series that has run since 2014. The most recent American film in that series, “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” opened to $80 million in 2024, and the next entry, “Godzilla x Kong: Supernova,” is set for release in 2027.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and Variety.
