Godzilla vs. Kong opened in North American movie theaters with a bang.
The latest entry in Warner Bros./Legendary’s so-called “MonsterVerse” debuted with an estimated $9.6 million on its opening day Wednesday (March 31) from 2,409 locations, setting a record as the largest opening day of the pandemic to date. The per-location average was a robust $3,985.
Based on audience reception, Godzilla vs. Kong’s prospects heading into the weekend look solid. The film garnered a near-perfect “A” Cinemascore, while the PostTrak audience survey came in at a strong 86 and 4 ½ stars, with an 87% Total Positive rating and a 74% Definite Recommend. African-Americans, who made up 23% of the opening day audience, gave the film the highest marks, with a 92% Total Positive rating and an 85% Definite Recommend on PostTrak.
The opening day audience skewed heavily male at 63% vs. 37% female, while the film pulled in a largely younger demo. Seventy-two percent of those showing up on opening day were under the age of 35, while 48% were under the age of 25 and 24% were under the age of 18. The latter segment gave the film the highest marks of any age demo with an A+ CinemaScore.
Rounding out the ethnic mix of the film’s opening day audience, 33% of attendees were Caucasian, 27% were Hispanic, 10% were Asian and 7% were Native American/Other.
Fittingly, Godzilla vs. Kong also performed well on premium large format (PLF) screens, which boasted a 25% share of attendance overall – 8% from IMAX and 17% from other PLF formats.
The film’s encouraging results come ahead of a substantial number of cinema reopenings this weekend, including 500 U.S. Regal Entertainment locations on Friday. Overall, the domestic market is looking at 93% coverage this weekend, though Canadian theaters remain largely shuttered, with only 25% of that market open currently.
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