- Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire takes $194 million across the world on its opening weekend
- Action adventure film sees legendary beasts Godzilla and Kong team up to defeat a new enemy
- Opening weekend is the Monsterverse’s best figures since the first film in the franchise released in 2014
Sci-fi action film Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has overtaken Dune: Part Two as the biggest grossing film globally in its first weekend of release this year.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire took $194 million over its opening weekend, surpassing the $182.5 million Dune: Part Two took, according to Variety.
While the figures may have been helped by its release over the Easter weekend, Godzilla x Kong has obviously been a hit with theater lovers.
In this latest instalment in the Monsterverse, Godzilla and Kong have to team up again to defeat a new enemy – the Skar King. With the Skar King intent on taking over the world, the legendary monsters are all that stand between the human and ape races and destruction. Epic battles ensue.
The film isn’t just the most successful this year so far, it is also the most the franchise has taken in an opening weekend since the first in the series, Godzilla, which was released in 2014 – although that took $196 million at the box office.
Domestically, Godzilla x Kong has fared well too, taking $80 million in the US alone. For comparison, the previous film in the series, 2021’s Godzilla vs Kong, took just $32 million in on its opening weekend.
The figures will also be a fillip for the movie industry, which is still proving volatile post-pandemic. Some blockbusters have struggled this year – think Madame Web – but Dune and Godzilla x Kong does show that films can still be successful in theaters.
