Tag: Godzilla

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Godzilla vs. Kong tops $60 million, the perfect pandemic field workplace haul

'Godzilla vs. Kong' tops box office with $32.2 million opening

Godzilla and King Kong fight in Warner Bros.’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Source: Warner Bros.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” hits pandemic box office records.

On Saturday, Warner Bros., who co-produced the film with Legendary, announced that its kaiju-filled film had exceeded $ 60 million at the domestic box office. This made it the highest-grossing film released during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Previously, Tenet, another Warner Bros. film, held the record for $ 58.5 million, which it secured during its 2020 theatrical release.

As it stands, Warner Bros. ‘films currently represent four of the five highest-grossing films released during the pandemic. Tenet is the second highest, Wonder Woman 1984 is fourth at $ 46.2 million, and Tom and Jerry is fifth at $ 40.3 million.

The third largest grossing film in the pandemic is Universal’s “Croods: A New Age,” which grossed $ 56.5 million during its time in theaters.

“It’s starting to look like the summer of April as ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ surpasses box office milestones that would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “Warner Bros. ‘ The release strategy has paid off, proving that cinema is still king when it comes to creating the most impactful, immersive cinematic experience. “

“Godzilla vs. Kong” has broken a number of records since it opened on March 31st. The film had its biggest opening weekend since the coronavirus pandemic began, grossing $ 32.2 million in theaters on its first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

It opened in more than 3,000 theaters in North America over the weekend. Most of all films during the pandemic had their largest opening day on Wednesday at $ 9.6 million and Saturday’s largest single day at $ 12.5 million.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” signals that consumers are dying to go to the movies for new blockbuster features and suggests that the summer slate could have similar success.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

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AMC upgraded as ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ renews confidence in field workplace

AMC upgraded as 'Godzilla vs. Kong' renews confidence in box office

AMC Empire 25 in Times Square is open as New York City theaters reopen for the first time in a year after the coronavirus shutdown on March 5, 2021.

Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images

“Godzilla vs. Kong” restores confidence in the future of the box office.

The Warner Bros. ‘film, which released the best opening weekend of any movie released during the coronavirus pandemic, “destroys ongoing concerns about the importance of the cinema window and shows a solid path to resurgence,” wrote Eric Wold, an analyst at B. Riley Securities, in a report on Monday.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” signals that consumers are dying to hit theaters for new blockbuster features and suggests that the upcoming summer slate could have similar success.

Wold also switched AMC Entertainment to “Buy” on its Monday listing and raised its price target from $ 7 to $ 13. The company’s shares rose more than 15% on Monday and have risen more than 410% since January, partly due to renewed confidence in the company’s ability to weather the remainder of the pandemic. AMC has a market value of $ 4.2 billion.

“We remain impressed with the management’s ability to weather the pandemic headwinds by both strengthening the bottom line and negotiating with landlords to improve the runway by 2022,” he wrote. “And as the largest exhibitor in North America that also operates most of the premium IMAX screens, we see AMC as well-positioned to benefit from the forecast industry recovery and to match pre-pandemic visitor numbers by 2023.”

AMC has been hit by the pandemic. The company was already in debt to acquiring smaller theater chains and adding luxury seating to its existing locations. Closures, capacity constraints, and the lack of new movie releases put a significant strain on the company’s finances.

The performance of “Godzilla vs. Kong” is a bright light for AMC and the rest of the cinema industry.

The film, which debuted domestically on Wednesday and released on HBO Max, grossed $ 32.2 million on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and brought in $ 48.5 million for the entire five-day Easter weekend in the US and Canada a.

“We believe consumers want to leave the house and return to the theater, and these results are very telling, especially considering the film was available for free to HBO Max subscribers at the same time it opened in theaters,” Wold wrote.

Notably, less than 60% of the North American theater base was open on weekends, and theater capacity constraints remain between 25% and 50%.

“We think these results are impressive considering the previous movie, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, opened for just $ 47.8 million in May 2019 (all theaters are open with no capacity restrictions) “wrote Wold.

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‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ tops field workplace with $32.2 million opening

'Godzilla vs. Kong' tops box office with $32.2 million opening

Godzilla and King Kong fight in Warner Bros.’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Source: Warner Bros.

The box office at home is back.

Warner Bros. and Legendary’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” had a pandemic best opening over the weekend, raising $ 32.2 million on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The film, which was released domestically on Wednesday, grossed $ 48.5 million in the United States and Canada.

Internationally, “Godzilla vs. Kong” increased its box office results by a further US $ 71.6 million. Since it opened in overseas markets last week, the film has grossed $ 285.4 million.

“The results for ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ are absolutely stunning and represent a kind of ‘welcome back’ to an industry that has been working its way back from the fringes for over a year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” opened in more than 3,000 theaters in North America over the weekend, most of the films during the pandemic. Not only did the film release the biggest opening weekend since the coronavirus pandemic began, it also had the biggest opening day on Wednesday at $ 9.6 million and the biggest single day on Saturday at $ 12.5 million.

“For anyone who has questioned the pent-up demand for admissions, this achievement is another sign of how resilient the theater industry can be,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.

According to Comscore, only 55% of theaters in North America were open over the weekend, compared to the total number of theaters open in 2019. Most of these cinemas are around 50% full.

“It should send a message to the studios again that the global audience is hungry for big box office releases,” said Robbins. “If ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ can break out in a still hampered domestic market with a simultaneous streaming release on these numbers, imagine what other blockbuster competitors can achieve in the coming months, if a reasonable window for exclusivity of the theater is given. ” Day one.”

“A sleeping giant is really starting to wake up,” he said.

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‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Roars on the Field Workplace With $48.5 Million

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Roars at the Box Office With $48.5 Million

Moviegoers sent a message to Hollywood over the weekend: We are ready to return to theaters – and will be buying tickets even if the same movie is instantly available in our living rooms – but we want to leave our gloomy world for a goofy fantasy world.

“Godzilla vs. Kong,” a monster film in which a lizard with atomic breath battles a computer-generated monkey on an aircraft carrier (before everyone ventures into the hollow center of the earth), grossed an estimated $ 48.5 million between 3,064 North American theaters Wednesday and Sunday. It was (by far) the largest turnout for a film since the pandemic began.

The PG-13 film wasn’t even a theater exclusive. “Godzilla vs. Kong,” produced by Legendary Entertainment, was also available on HBO Max, a streaming service that sells monthly subscriptions for $ 15, less than the cost of an adult ticket at major city theaters.

“People seem ready to free themselves emotionally, to experience this human connectivity – to laugh together, to get scared together – and to complete the transport that only cinemas can offer,” said Mary Parent, vice chairwoman and director of the worldwide production of Legendary, in a telephone interview.

Overseas, Godzilla vs. Kong raised an additional $ 236.9 million, including a whopping $ 136 million in China, a market that has recently favored local over imported films. The film has not yet opened in other major markets such as Japan and Brazil.

Some box office analysts were reluctant to declare a recovery for Hollywood, noting that coronavirus cases in the US have risen again and parts of Europe are back on lockdown. David A. Gross, director of film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research, said that while the Friday-Sunday voter turnout was “a clear and positive indication that going to the cinema has inherent strengths that don’t go away”, “half of it” is still below normal circumstances. “

About 93 percent of theaters in the United States have opened, but government guidelines limit capacity to 50 percent and in some large cities to 25 percent. Most theaters in Canada will remain closed.

But Warner Bros., which was handing out Godzilla vs. Kong, was too busy popping champagne on Sunday to deal with the reservations that are killing the buzz. “BIG FILMS ARE BACK WITH OUR KAIJU-SIZE OPENING!” The studio said in a press release about weekend earnings, using the Japanese term for overgrown movie monsters.

The Adam Wingard-led mash-up of computer-generated titans, which cost approximately $ 155 million to manufacture, benefited from strong reviews. AO Scott, who rated it for the New York Times, described it as an escape route made with “lavish grandiosity” and “zero pretension”. Ticket buyers gave the film an A grade in CinemaScore polls, which was higher than “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” in 2019 or “Kong: Skull Island” in 2017.

As Hollywood adapts to the streaming age by making new movies available for viewing at home faster – to the dismay of theater owners – quality matters more than ever, along with size and scope: what’s worth a trip to the theater (with face coverings for the foreseeable future) and what is not?

Non-franchise films without spectacular visual effects could have a tough time, box office analysts say, pointing to the disappointing arrival of “Raya and the Last Dragon” last month. Godzilla and King Kong, on the other hand, are cinematic comfort dishes: proven, larger-than-life, nonsensical fun. A large percentage of weekend ticket sales for Godzilla vs. Kong came from large-format theaters that charge a ticket premium. For example, Imax said that about 1,000 of its screenings in North America were sold out.

“Audiences are demonstrating the pent-up demand for blockbuster films on a grand scale,” said David King, an Imax sales director, in an email.

That was certainly true of Iveth Vacao, who took her 8-year-old son Jayden to an Imax matinee of “Godzilla vs. Kong” at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.

“We don’t usually go to the theater, but we wanted to experience something,” said Vacao before the lights go out. “Covid made us appreciate things like that more. Sure, you can get the same movie at home, but not the same experience. “

Jayden didn’t want to guess which creature would emerge victorious. (“Can they both?”) But he was sure of one thing.

“When the next ‘Venom’ comes out, we’ll definitely be back,” he said, referring to “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which was planned by Sony this fall. “I want to see it on the biggest screen.”

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‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Assessment: Let’s You and Him Struggle

‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Review: Let’s You and Him Fight

A couple of nights ago I saw “Godzilla vs. Kong” alone in my darkened living room. That was far from ideal, but it made me acutely nostalgic for a certain pleasure that I have been giving up for 13 months. There are many reasons I miss going to the movies, but one of them that I didn’t really take into account is the extra joy of seeing a bad movie on a big screen.

I don’t mean bad “bad”. It is more of a description than a judgment. “Godzilla vs. Kong,” directed by Adam Wingard, is the fourth episode in a franchise called “MonsterVerse,” which was made from fossilized B-movie DNA. As such, it gathers an impressive human cast to walk around explaining false science and drawing attention to what is happening in all clarity. “Did the monkey just talk?” someone asks. He kind of did it, but that’s not what anyone can see here. We paid money to see him fight the lizard.

Well I didn’t, but if things were different I might have done it. Mind you, not necessarily as part of a monthly HBO Max subscription fee. (The film grossed $ 123 million in overseas cinemas this past weekend.) The spectacle of the Titans playing Mano for Mano should be watched in the presence of troubled members of your own species whose behavior leads you to think about the ridiculous parts of moaning. laugh too hard at the used jokes and cheer when the monkey fist connects with the dinosaur jaw.

Without such a society it is at least possible to admire “Godzilla vs. Kong” for what it is – an action film that was shot with lavish grandiosity, without pretension and not too much originality. An opening sequence points in the direction of earlier MonsterVerse episodes (“Godzilla”, “Kong: Skull Island” and “Godzilla King of the Monsters”) and at the same time picks up on the energy drink rhythm of the playoff sports broadcast. Myths and legends are cited along with genetics and geophysics, but bracketology is the relevant intellectual discipline.

And the main aesthetic achievements are the kaiju and the monkey. They fight at sea and on the streets of Hong Kong, and their bodies are depicted in loving, absurd detail. Kong’s height seems to fluctuate a bit, like he’s a boxer floating between weight classes. His fingernails are beautiful, his teeth are straight and his coat is impressively well-groomed.

The film, written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, might lean a little in Kong’s favor. He has a sweet friendship with a young girl named Jia (Kaylee Hottle), whose guardian is Ilene Andrews, a sensitive scientist played by Rebecca Hall. Nathan Lind (Alexander Skarsgard) is less sensitive and is ethically compromised by his involvement with Walter Simmons (Demián Bichir), a bigwig from companies who embraces technological ambitions in a brocade tuxedo jacket and a mug of scotch.

You know the guy. You may also know the underdogs who take up Godzilla’s side of the story: the paranoid podcaster (Brian Tyree Henry); the nervous nerd (Julian Dennison); the independent teenage girl (Millie Bobby Brown). Brown was in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as was Kyle Chandler, who plays her father again, the fearful bureaucrat. This film and the other earlier MonsterVerse pictures cared a little more about people than this one, which reduces motifs and relationships to visual shorthand and indifferent jokes.

The poetry, as I suggested, lies with the animals. Kong, a warm-blooded being, is the more passionate and moody of the two. He also learns to communicate with people and to use tools or at least a glowing ax that he finds in a cave deep below the surface of the earth. (The earth is hollow, in case you didn’t know.) Godzilla is simpler, but also more enigmatic – a killer with a small brain whose scaly face still registers an almost philosophical fatigue and an instinctive willingness to fight.

What would you bet on I will not spoil anything. Despite the bright blue death rays shooting out of Godzilla’s mouth, it’s an old-fashioned Donnybrook, a brawl that feels more physical than digital. Kong has broad shoulders and the ability to make a fist, but Godzilla has claws, a low center of gravity, and a sledgehammer tail.

It’s not pretty and it doesn’t mean much, but “Godzilla vs. Kong” turns its limits into virtues and makes stupidity its own kind of ingenuity. The original “Gojira” was an allegory of human ruthlessness, just as the old “King Kong” was a tragedy catalyzed by human cruelty. It was pop fables, something that this chic spectacle is not remotely aiming at. But it at least honors the nobility of the blanks on the screen as it satisfies the appetite of the blanks on the couch.

Godzilla versus Kong
Rated PG-13. Big animal chaos. Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes. In theaters and on HBO Max Please consult the Policies of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before viewing films in theaters.

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Godzilla vs. Kong China field workplace headed for sturdy opening weekend

Godzilla vs. Kong China box office headed for strong opening weekend

A still image from Warner Bros. “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Source: Warner Bros.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” is on its way to a monster opening weekend at the Chinese box office. This is welcome news for an industry ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to initial estimates, the film, in which two of the cinema’s most famous monsters compete against each other, secured around US $ 21.5 million on the country’s opening day.

The sequel is currently running just before its predecessor “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”, which brought in around 18 million US dollars on its first day of cinema in China in 2019. Ultimately, $ 66.7 million was raised for the entire weekend.

The film will be released internationally this weekend, but will be available in North American theaters and on HBO Max on March 31st. “Godzilla vs. Kong” will be on the streaming service for 31 days after its release and then switch to premium video by demand.

“The release of this film is very welcome news for the film industry, even if the domestic streaming element is involved,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com. “Overall, the Asian markets were strong drivers of the franchise’s box office expertise, with China alone contributing around a third of global revenues to ‘Kong: Skull Island’ and ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’.”

At the beginning of the weekend, analysts were optimistic that Godzilla vs. Kong could deliver strong results in China. After all, the country is currently the leading box office manager for ticket sales in 2021, and has been instrumental in driving ticket sales for the latest Godzilla and King Kong films.

Strong ticket sales in China

According to Comscore, China’s box office made $ 2.64 billion in ticket sales between January 1 and March 21, most of all territories.

By comparison, Japan, the second largest cash collector, made just $ 292.6 million in ticket sales in the first three months of the year. The domestic box office, which ranks third, has just under $ 200 million in ticket sales.

Domestically, the film industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, leading to long-term closings of major theaters and the postponement of blockbuster films. Only recently, theaters in key cities like Los Angeles and New York City received local permits to reopen.

With movie theaters now open and a steady surge in vaccinations, the industry is hoping box offices in the US and Canada will rebound.

“With much of the world waiting for theaters to reopen more stably and for vaccine implementation to further boost consumer sentiment, the film’s current presence in Chinese cinemas is one of the most important steps to take in the long-term industry global upswing, “said Robbin.

The Chinese box office has accelerated over the past decade, threatening to overtake North America as the highest-earning area in the world. In 2012, China had ticket sales of just $ 2.7 billion. By 2019, that number was $ 9.2 billion, just two billion behind North America.

Because of the pandemic, China overtook North America last year, raising $ 3.1 billion, compared to $ 2.25 billion domestically.

China’s strong ticket sales in 2021 are particularly due to the fact that more theaters are open, the audience capacity is higher, and more new films are being released.

While theaters in the US and Canada are 25% to 50% full, many theaters in China are allowed to open at 75%. This enables them to generate a significantly higher amount every weekend at the box office.

“What the Chinese market is telling me is not necessarily that it is outperforming, but it shows the performance that an open film market should be,” said Josh Grode, CEO of Legendary. “It’s a strong sign around the world that people really enjoy going to the movies and enjoying a social experience.”

Legendary co-produced “Godzilla vs. Kong” alongside Warner Bros. and has distribution rights in China.

“There is something to be said about the shared experience.” Said Grode. “Go inside, let the lights go out, scream and shout and be entertained and fed on the energy of the person next to you.”

A monster showdown

Audiences in China are also leaning towards premium ticketing for upgraded seating and screens that cost more. IMAX, for example, has a massive presence in China and continues to increase the number of screens operated in the region.

In 2014, when Godzilla was released, IMAX had fewer than 150 screens in China. Now that Godzilla vs. Kong is out there are around 700 screens.

“There’s a big appetite for the right film and a special appetite for premium,” said Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “You want to see something very special.”

Godzilla and King Kong fight in Warner Bros.’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.”

Source: Warner Bros.

Hollywood action films tend to draw large crowds to Chinese theaters and often make up a significant portion of ticket sales, especially in recent years.

Looking at “Godzilla” from 2014, domestic ticket sales reached $ 200.6 million, or about 39% of the movie’s total worldwide sales. Ticket sales in China were under $ 80 million, or 15%.

Fast forward to 2019 when Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released, China accounted for 36% of the movie’s global box officer at $ 137.6 million, and North America accounted for $ 110.5 million in ticket sales 29% off.

“The legendary monster film genre has had a special resonance in the international market for decades,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Senior Media Analyst at Comscore. “China, in particular, has been an incredibly important source of revenue and fan-based enthusiasm for the franchise and has been appropriately at the center of the marketing and sales effort for the film.”

“There’s no denying that the sheer size and scale of these two larger-than-life characters makes it necessary to see the film best on the largest screen possible,” he said.