Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire
America’s favorite couple used the power of their love to stay at #1 this weekend as Warners and Legendary’s Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire took in an estimated $31.7 million domestically on 3948 screens, with an $8029 per screen average. That’s a -60% drop from the previous over-performing weekend, with domestic cume now at $135,038,000 million. The film broke several MonsterVerse milestones by officially surpassing domestic performances of previous entries Godzilla vs. Kong ($100,916,094 million) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters ($110,500,138 million).
Let’s compare that percentage drop to the second weekend of previous entries:
- Godzilla (2014) – $30,946,416 million (-67% drop)
- Kong: Skull Island (2017) – $27,832,142 million (-54% drop)
- Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) – $15,450,407 million (-68% drop)
- Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) – $13,880,000 million (-57% drop)
- Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire (2024) – $31.7 million (-60% drop)
It’s about on-par with the last Adam Wingard-helmed film, and holding better than the first two American Godzilla entries. Now the biggest question seems to be can New Empire hold steady enough to surpass 2014’s Godzilla ($200M) to become the top domestic earner in the MonsterVerse?
Internationally Godzilla X Kong stomped out an estimated $59.3M on 50,730 screens in 69 international markets for a $226 million international take and $361.1 million globally through Sunday. An estimated $9.7M of that worldwide number came from IMAX, with the overall IMAX cume for the picture now at $34M. It was the #1 title throughout Asia, with another 9 markets yet to open including Middle East and Japan in the coming weeks, meaning it has a shot at surpassing the 2014 Godzilla‘s $529 million global haul.
Monkey Man
Dev Patel’s surreal action flick Monkey Man took the #2 spot with $10.1 million on 3,029 screens, a win for Universal and producer Jordan Peele. Audiences gave the film a “B+” CinemaScore, with a Rotten Tomatoes critics score of 87% and an 83% audience score. The studio is anticipating solid play in weeks to come via word of mouth.
International was not so robust, taking in $2.6 million in 27 territories, with $1 million of that coming from the UK and Ireland where it opened at #5. The worldwide total stands at $12.7 million.
Written, co-produced, directed and starring British actor Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, The Green Knight), Monkey Man had a bumpy history having previously been acquired by Netflix for a reported $30 million, only for the streamer to get cold feet over some of the political content of the film, according to reports. Peele is reported to have stepped up and got Universal to pony up to release the $10 million dollar picture theatrically.
Since the initial John Wick in 2013 it has become harder and harder to launch an original action franchise at the box office, especially with similar entries like Extraction or The Gray Man going straight-to-streaming. Here are how a few recent examples shook out domestically…
- Atomic Blonde (2017) – $51.6 million
- The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) – $75.4 million
- Peppermint (2018) – $35.4 million
- Mile 22 (2018) – $36.1 million
- Wrath of Man (2021) – $27.4 million
- Nobody (2021) – $27.5 million
- The 355 (2022) – $14.5 million
- The Beekeeper (2024) – $66.2 million
Of these The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the only one to successfully generate a sequel (thus far). Rather than seeking to replicate the John Wick formula, Monkey Man is giving audiences a fresh take on the revenge-o-matic which they clearly are responding to. The question remains if international audiences are going to hop on the bandwagon?
The First Omen
One of horror’s oldest franchises was brought back from the other side this weekend as 20th Century Studios’ The First Omen earned an estimated $8.4 million domestically. This is far below early estimates, including ours which pegged the film opening in the $10-$15 million range. Although the film has earned positive reviews (it currently stands at 78% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences are less keen on the film with a 64% RT audience score as well as a “C” CinemaScore. Here’s the 3-day breakdown:
- Fri – $3,240,000 million
- Sat – $3,032,000 million
- Sun – $2,091,000 million
The prequel also took in $9.1 million internationally for a worldwide total total of $17.5 million. The biggest international territory was Mexico at #3 with $1.6M.
Audience Demographics (domestic):
- Female – 49% / Male – 51%
- 13-17 – 5%
- 18-24 – 30%
- 25-34 – 32%
- 35-44 – 16%
- 45+ – 17%
Richard Donner’s original masterpiece The Omen starring Gregory Peck was a runaway success in 1976, taking in over $60 million domestically. A 1978 sequel Damien: Omen II halved that with $26.5 million and the trilogy was capped off with Omen III: The Final Conflict in 1981 (starring Sam Neill) which tapped out at $20.4 million. A direct-to-video sequel followed in 1991 before Fox revived the series in 2006 with a remake also titled The Omen that took in $54.6M domestically and $120M WW, though it was marred by poor reviews which hampered sequel plans. It did boast the biggest-ever Tuesday gross at the time via taking advantage of the 6/6/06 calendar that June, raking in $12.6M.
Despite being nearly fifty years old, The Omen is a franchise that has been difficult to take hold in popular consciousness due to the fact that there is no central iconic figure ala Annabelle or Michael Myers. Beyond the broad biblical themes of the antichrist inherent to the series, there is little to distinguish The First Omen in the marketplace from other recent religious horror films including The Exorcist: Believer, The Nun II, The Pope’s Exorcist, or the very recent Immaculate.
Other Notable Performances
The Fathom Events release of the faith-based romance Someone Like You took in $3,002,382 million on 1800 screens for the #7 spot. Based on the book by bestselling Christian author Karen Kingsbury, the film stars Sarah Fisher, Jake Allyn, and Lynn Collins.
Focus Features launched the Macedonian drama Housekeeping for Beginners on 4 screens in New York and Los Angeles with an estimated $45,000 thousand (PTA $11,250). Boasting a 95% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the Goran Stolevski film will expand into 20 markets across the US next Friday.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates:
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire | $31,700,000 | -60% | 3,948 | 87.00 | $8,029 | $135,038,000 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| Monkey Man | $10,150,000 | 3,029 | $3,351 | $10,150,000 | 1 | Universal | ||
| Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire | $9,000,000 | -42% | 3,835 | -510.00 | $2,347 | $88,864,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| The First Omen | $8,363,000 | 3,375 | $2,478 | $8,363,000 | 1 | 20th Century… | ||
| Kung Fu Panda 4 | $7,850,000 | -24% | 3,398 | -184.00 | $2,310 | $166,057,000 | 5 | Universal |
| Dune: Part Two | $7,200,000 | -37% | 2,836 | -300.00 | $2,539 | $264,859,000 | 6 | Warner Bros. |
| Someone Like You | $3,002,382 | 1,800 | $1,668 | $3,002,382 | 1 | Fathom Events | ||
| Arthur the King | $1,540,000 | -38% | 1,704 | -821.00 | $904 | $22,205,856 | 4 | Lionsgate |
| Immaculate | $1,405,000 | -57% | 1,706 | -656.00 | $824 | $14,146,129 | 3 | Neon |
| Late Night with the Devil | $1,114,000 | -48% | 1,159 | -283.00 | $961 | $8,451,251 | 3 | IFC Films |
| Imaginary | $560,000 | -60% | 924 | -1,032.00 | $606 | $27,444,408 | 5 | Lionsgate |
| Love Lies Bleeding | $281,208 | -56% | 264 | -594.00 | $1,065 | $7,830,385 | 5 | A24 |
| One Life | $269,063 | -46% | 275 | -303.00 | $978 | $5,122,549 | 4 | Bleecker Street |
| Problemista | $163,580 | -55% | 195 | -184.00 | $839 | $2,259,752 | 57 | A24 |
| Bob Marley: One Love | $132,000 | -69% | 234 | -359.00 | $564 | $96,589,000 | 8 | Paramount Pi… |
| La chimera | $80,321 | 80% | 18 | 15.00 | $4,462 | $151,232 | 2 | Neon |
| Femme | $64,843 | 180% | 104 | 100.00 | $623 | $125,082 | 3 | Utopia |
| Perfect Days | $60,000 | -36% | 63 | 1.00 | $952 | $3,518,696 | 22 | Neon |
| The Beast | $48,000 | 4 | $12,000 | $48,000 | 1 | Janus Films | ||
| Housekeeping for Beginners | $45,000 | 4 | $11,250 | $45,000 | 1 | Focus Features | ||
| Migration | $44,000 | -66% | 271 | n/c | $162 | $127,294,000 | 16 | Universal |
| The Taste of Things | $10,892 | -57% | 17 | -53.00 | $641 | $2,655,074 | 22 | IFC Films |
| Limbo | $4,515 | -39% | 11 | 4.00 | $410 | $27,537 | 3 | Music Box Films |
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