'Godzilla: King Of The Monsters' Is King Of The Weekend Box Office But Not A Monster Hit

Godzilla: King of the Monsters proved to be the reigning champ of the weekend box office as well. On its opening weekend, the Michael Dougherty-directed monster movie raked in $49 million domestically, beating out Aladdin and fellow new entries Rocketman and Ma. But despite its evisceration of the competition, the Godzilla King of the Monsters box office still disappoints in relation to its projected earnings and the rest of the Legendary MonsterVerse franchise.Godzilla: King of the Monsters scared up $49 million on its opening weekend, over Aladdin's $42.3 million, Rocketman's $25 million, and Ma's $18.3 million. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum rounds out the top 5 of the box office charts with $11.1 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

While Godzilla: King of the Monsters takes the weekend box office crown, it's still not a monster hit, as its $49 million weekend haul puts it below its projected opening of at least $50 million. This, and the fact that King of the Monsters opened well below Gareth Edwards' 2014 Godzilla, which opened with $93 million from a $38 million opening day, making the latest Godzilla sequel an unfortunate box office disappointment. Forbes points out that the first film ended up making $200 million domestic, but if Godzilla: King of the Monsters continues at that rate, it could end up with only $105 million domestic — not nearly enough to make up for its hefty $200 million budget.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the third installment in Legendary's MonsterVerse, which includes 2014's Godzilla and 2017's Kong: Skull Island, which opened to $61 million. Like its predecessors, King of the Monsters is expected to make most of its ticket sales overseas and already its global ticket sales are soaring above its domestic numbers. Variety reports that King of the Monsters bowed with $130 million at the international box office. However, it seems like the MonsterVerse will likely see diminishing returns with its films, if the Godzilla: King of the Monsters box office proves anything.

But Godzilla's fellow new releases did well for their budget range, with Rocketman bringing in $56 million worldwide — not bad for an R-rated film whose gay sex scenes were censored in several countries and budget consisted of $40 million in sunglasses. It probably won't reach the heights of last year's hit biopic musical Bohemian Rhapsody, which raked in $900 million globally, as its rating likely hinders it. Meanwhile, the Octavia Spencer-starring horror film Ma more than made up for its $5 million budget with its $18.2 million opening.