Godzilla X Kong Is Now The Highest-Grossing Godzilla Movie Ever At The Box Office
It's official: The "Godzilla" franchise has a new king. On its sixth weekend in theaters, director Adam Wingard's "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" managed to overtake 2014's "Godzilla" at the global box office. In doing so, it now ranks as the highest-grossing movie in the history of the franchise, which dates back 70 years to the original 1954 kaiju classic that started it all.
Warner Bros. and Legendary's "The New Empire" added $4.5 million domestically over the weekend, landing at number six on the charts behind Sony's new horror movie "Tarot" ($6.5 million). That gives the latest entry in the MonsterVerse franchise a $188.1 million domestic haul to go with $359.1 million overseas for a grand total of $547.2 million worldwide. That number is made all the more sweet given the film's surprisingly reasonable $135 million budget. This total officially puts it above director Gareth Edwards' "Godzilla" ($529 million), which kicked off this incarnation of the franchise a decade ago.
Not accounting for inflation, "Godzilla x Kong" now stands alone as the largest global grosser in "Godzilla" history. Granted, many of the Toho classics would be sizable hits when adjusted for inflation. Be that as it may, it's still an impressive feat. It now stands as the second-largest entry in the MonsterVerse as well, having passed 2021's "Godzilla vs. Kong" ($467.8 million) in late April. The only movie standing in its way is 2017's "Kong: Skull Island" ($561 million), which did not feature Godzilla. The way things are going, Wingard's latest is all but assured to eclipse that mark in the coming weeks.
70 years later, Godzilla is as big as he ever was
"Godzilla" has remained shockingly enduring as a franchise, with nearly 40 films released across seven decades. The original '54 film is regarded as not just a qualified success of the genre, but a true classic, full stop. It's a serious piece of legitimate cinema. "Godzilla x Kong," on the other hand, exists on the opposite end of the spectrum, almost playing like a blockbuster-budgeted cartoon. Audiences are demonstrating that they have an appetite for both. This is a franchise that can seemingly do it all.
As another example of Godzilla's elasticity, last year saw "Godzilla Minus One" ($104.3 million worldwide) become the biggest Japanese-language movie in the franchise's long history. It was also the first film in the series to win an Oscar, taking home the trophy for Best Visual Effects. 70 years on, Godzilla is arguably more popular than he's ever been. One could make the argument that he is an A-list movie star of sorts (as is King Kong, for that matter). It's truly impressive, putting him right up there with the likes of James Bond as a name that transcends generations, finding a way to remain relevant for moviegoers.
As for the future, it's all but assured that WB and Legendary will come together for another MonsterVerse film, presumably one that features both Godzilla and Kong again. Meanwhile, it seems likely that Toho would want to do a sequel to "Minus One," but that has yet to be confirmed. Aside from that, Apple TV+ has "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" season 2 and some additional spin-off shows in the works, so it's a good time to be a fan of big monsters.
"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" is in theaters now.