For a 60-year-old mutant lizard, Godzilla still has plenty of blockbuster power.
The film garnered a better-than-expected $93 million in U.S. ticket sales in its opening weekend and another $103 million from 64 overseas markets, the best international debut of the year. Godzilla crushed in the U.K. and Russia, while Mexico—normally a tiny movie market—ended up as the third-biggest foreign box-office with $9 million in ticket sales.
The massive debut easily towered over the last time the Japanese lizard hit theaters in 1998. Adjusted for inflation, that film grabbed $81 million in its opening weekend.
The contemporary Godzilla deployed a savvy strategy for attacking consumers. The film made sure not to miss large-format theaters were fan-boys and -girls were happy to pay premiums for a super-sized experience. Some 15 percent of the weekend’s ticket revenue came from Imax theaters, as each of the 353 giant screens that showed the film garnered $40,057 on average.
It also helped that the movie isn’t terrible, with some raves from critics and a 73 percent approval rating on Rottentomatoes.com, which aggregates professional reviews. The 1998 version of the Godzilla story drew only 25, despite the work of a young Matthew Broderick.
Still, the new film didn’t top other major recent releases in the U.S. Captain America: the Winter Soldier, which opened last month with slightly stronger numbers. And Iron Man 3, last year’s box office champion, garnered almost twice as much in its opening weekend.
The giant lizard, however, has yet to take over screens in China, the world’s No. 2 movie market. And it won’t show in Japan—its birthplace—until July.
