Godzilla Minus Zero opened at No. 1 in the US and Canada over the weekend of 6 to 8 November with an estimated US$31.6m, The Guardian reported.
That is a record opening weekend there for a live-action foreign-language film, according to The Guardian. Worldwide, the film took an estimated US$63m.
It is not a franchise record.
The film is shown in Japanese with English subtitles. It is the 39th film in a Godzilla franchise that dates to 1954.
All weekend figures in this report are the estimates reported on Sunday 8 November, US time.
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The Release
It opened in 3,254 theatres, Variety reported. Gkids distributes it in the US. Toho produced it.
Takashi Yamazaki directed. The film is set in 1949, two years after the first film, and Godzilla faces the three-headed Ghidorah, according to The Guardian.
It was shot principally on location, including a sports park in Ibaraki and a temple in Maizuru, Kyoto prefecture.
Against Minus One
Godzilla Minus One opened to US$11.4m in 2023, Variety reported. It went on to US$57m in North America and US$113m globally, and won the visual effects Oscar.
Industry analyst David A Gross put the new opening at nearly three times Minus One’s December 2023 debut, The Guardian reported.
In Japan, Minus Zero opened on 3 November and set a first-day record for a live-action release. Toho says it more than doubled Minus One’s opening day, according to The Guardian.
“This historic opening shows how deeply audiences around the world connect with Godzilla and with Takashi Yamazaki’s vision,” Koji Ueda, president of Toho Global, said in a statement reported by The Guardian.
The Imax Share
Imax supplied 34% of the worldwide opening, The Guardian reported. Deadline put that at an estimated US$21.3m, a record global Imax opening for a Japanese film.
In North America, Imax alone took 40% of ticket sales, US$12.7m on 429 screens, according to Deadline. Imax and premium large formats together made up 74% of the North American opening.
Overseas, the film played on 421 Imax screens in 64 markets for US$8.6m. Japan led with US$4m, the highest Imax opening ever there, Deadline reported.
The big screens had a head start. The film had an early Imax-only release in the week before the 6 to 8 November weekend, The Guardian reported.
“We’re so happy to see audiences embrace ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ at an unprecedented scale for an international film,” said Chance Huskey of Gkids, Variety reported.
The Rest of the Weekend
The Cat in the Hat opened with an estimated US$20m from 4,003 locations, Variety reported. It is a US$92m-budgeted film and earned an “A” CinemaScore.
The Indian epic Ramayana: Rise of a Legend opened to US$55.7m globally, according to Variety and The Guardian.
The outlets differ on its local numbers. Variety put its North American weekend at US$8.6m. The Guardian gave US$8.7m in the US and US$32m in India. The two-part Ramayana cost a combined US$500m, Variety reported.
Searchlight’s Wild Horse Nine opened eighth with US$6m, according to Variety.
Across all films, the North American weekend totalled US$114m, up 86% on the same weekend a year earlier, Variety reported. US box office for the year to date is US$8.6bn, 20% above the same point in 2025, according to Rentrak figures cited by Variety.
In Australia
Godzilla Minus Zero and Ramayana both opened in Australia ahead of Black Bear’s Wicker, which took US$918K there, Deadline reported. Ramayana took US$1.9M in Australia.
Deadline did not give an Australian figure for Godzilla.
Earlier box office coverage, including Dhurandhar’s run in Australia, is in prw’s Entertainment archive.
What the Monday Numbers Settle
Actual figures for the weekend were due on Monday 9 November, US time, and can differ from the Sunday estimates used here.
On the Sunday estimates, Minus Zero opened to US$31.6m in North America. Minus One opened to US$11.4m in 2023.
Sources: The Guardian, “Godzilla Minus Zero takes US box office by storm in opening weekend”, 9 November 2026 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/09/godzilla-minus-zero-takes-us-box-office-by-storm-in-opening-weekend); Variety, “Box Office: ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Roars With $31 Million Debut, ‘Cat in the Hat’ Fizzles With $20 Million”, 8 November 2026 (https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/godzilla-minus-zero-box-office-opening-weekend-cat-in-the-hat-fizzles-1236942363/); Deadline, “‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Is King Of The Global Weekend Box Office With $63M, Towers Over ‘Ramayana’s $55M+ WW Opening”, 8 November 2026 (https://deadline.com/2026/11/box-office-global-godzilla-minus-zero-ramayana-rise-of-a-legend-1237216698/)
Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Rows of red seats in a Seattle cinema auditorium, photographed in 2007; a general picture of a cinema, unrelated to the film or its release.
