At the US Box Office, recently released monster movie from Japan “Godzilla Minus One” has not only expanded its cinematic presence from 2,308 to 2,540 theaters but has also claimed its place as the highest-grossing foreign film of 2023, dethroning Shah Rukh Khan’s Bollywood blockbuster “Pathaan”, that grossed $17.5 million there.
“Pathaan”, the action thriller that was part of Yash Raj Films’ ‘Spy-Universe’, released earlier this year and went to become one of the biggest Bollywood hit, grossing close to $130 million worldwide.
Coming to Toho’s ‘Godzilla Minus One’, the colossal monster continued its rampage through United States theaters, as the second 3-day weekend proved to be a monstrous success, with a formidable $2.3 million in earnings on the second Friday alone.
Despite a -13.5% drop from the previous Pure Friday Opening Day, “Godzilla Minus One” has so far grossed a history-making total of $19.3 million.
The film’s expected performance in its second 3-day weekend is also looking very interesting, with projections pointing towards a gross ranging from $7.5 million to $9 million. This forecast comes with a 34% to 21% drop, indicating the sustained appeal and box office dominance from the non-English live action movie.
Japanese Cinema’s Invasion at the US Box Office
This week has been a historic one for Japanese cinema as two films are set to dominate the US Box Office Top 3 simultaneously, marking a groundbreaking achievement for the industry. Alongside “Godzilla Minus One,” Studio Ghibli’s anime movie, “The Boy and The Heron,” occupied 2,205 US theaters, grossing $5.6 million on the Friday Opening Day, which includes a $2.4 million from Thursday previews.
“The Boy and The Heron” not only achieved the distinction of the biggest-ever opening for an original anime, surpassing the record set by “Suzume,” but also claimed the title of the largest-ever opening for Ghibli animations, outshining “The Secret World of Arrietty’s” $1.7 million Opening Day.
Furthermore, it secured the 7th spot among the biggest openings for any anime, surpassing the formidable “One Piece Film Red’s” $4.8 million Opening Day.
The film is now set to aim for an impressive 3-day opening weekend in the range of $10 million to $13 million.
Emma Stone’s “Poor Things” Sees Modest Start
Meanwhile, in the midst of Japanese movies conquering the US market, Disney / Searchlight’s “Poor Things” made a modest entry into the box office charts. The film grossed an estimated $279,000 on Friday from nine locations in NY/LA/SF/Austin, boasting a daily per-location average of $31,000.
Currently boosting an impressive 8.5/10 rating on IMDb, and 93% critics approval on Rotten Tomatoes, the fantasy sci-fi film stars Emma Stone, Margaret Qualley, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef and Christopher Abbott, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and is based on Poor Things by Alasdair Gray.
