# Another Godzilla Storms the Box Office

When it comes to legendary lizards, it seems local and international audiences can’t get enough! A well-timed spring-break launch of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has proved to have some surprising box office traction over the long holiday weekend, with several notable over-performances, including domestically. Brandon Blake, our [entertainment attorney](http://www.filmtvlaw.com/) from Blake & Wang P.A., shares this welcome news.

[Brandon Blake](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2404120/)

## Ahead of the Competition

For a film of this caliber, a $194M opening is cause for celebration indeed. $114M of that comes from 63 international openings. In like-for-like markets, adjusted to current exchange rates, this puts the film’s tracking ahead of Godzilla by 30% and Godzilla vs Kong by 6%. Perhaps more intriguingly, it is also tracking 25% higher than Dune: Part Two and is currently on par with Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One. It has performed particularly well in Latin America and India, with a solid Chinese opening of $44M as well. The film took the No.1 slot there, and it takes the No. 2 spot for highest-grossing foreign films.

So far, this means the movie is wildly outperforming expectations. In Mexico, it took $12.8M, the top start of 2024 as well as for the so-called ‘Monsterverse’. Latin America accounted for 65% of the total overall, allowing the film the biggest industry opening of 2024 to date. The film also ranked No. 1 in the UK ($5.3M) and Australia ($3.7M). The film will open shortly in 15 more markets.

## Other Notable Box Office Performances

Unsurprisingly, Kung Fu Panda 4 continues to be a strong performer, bringing in another $43.7M internationally to take its total global takings to $347M. This places it far ahead of the performance of other installments in the franchise, except for the Chinese market. It also takes the No. 4 spot on the highest post-pandemic animation opening, ironically behind 3 other Universal films.

Despite some early criticisms, Ghostbusters Frozen Empire turned in a credible $11.2M over 27 markets as part of a staggered release. This takes its total to $100M, while the carefully curated release of Oppenheimer for the Japanese market saw a strong opening regardless of its sensitive subject matter. While $2.6M may not add that much to its bottom line, the film is performing surprisingly well and is proving something of a conversation-driver. It may well become the biggest studio opening weekend of 2024 (so far) in that market.

Dune: Part Two brought in another $18.4M across 73 international markets and a little under 18,500 screens. This brings its global tally to $626.1M, with an IMAX total of $133.7M. Intriguingly, Germany saw something of an unexpected breakout hit in Chantal in Fairyland, a spinoff of their Fack Ju Göhte time-travel comedy franchise. Playing only to its home market, it has still managed a very credible $6.24M.

Overall, while concerns about the reduced content slate for 2024 will continue to haunt the box office throughout this year, it is wonderful to finally see some positive upward movement. Especially across a variety of film genres, sizes, and styles, too, which is a critical indicator of the health of the box office overall.