Published: 7 November 2026 | USA 247 Trend Post
Godzilla is stomping the box office again — and this time, he is breaking records on two continents at once. Godzilla Minus Zero, the sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, took in $13.5 million on its opening Friday in North America and is tracking for a $30 million to $33 million opening weekend, which would be the biggest domestic opening ever for a foreign-language live-action film.
The film, directed by Takashi Yamazaki, opened in Japan on Tuesday, 3 November, where it set the record for the biggest opening day ever for a live-action film. Three days later it arrived in North American theatres, and American audiences have responded with the same enthusiasm.
The short version: a Japanese-language monster movie with English subtitles is about to become one of the biggest box office stories of the year. It has already broken records in Japan, earned the best possible audience grade in the US, and is projected to open to around $60 million worldwide — nearly triple the opening of its predecessor.
Table of Contents
- 1. The North American Opening: $13.5 Million Friday
- 2. The Japan Record: A Historic Opening Day
- 3. What Is Godzilla Minus Zero About?
- 4. The Predecessor: How Minus One Changed Everything
- 5. Audiences Love It: The A CinemaScore
- 6. The Records It Could Break This Weekend
- 7. The Competition: The Cat in the Hat and the Weekend Race
- 8. What Happens Next for Godzilla
- Frequently Asked Questions
1. The North American Opening: $13.5 Million Friday
Godzilla Minus Zero opened in the United States and Canada on Friday, 6 November, in 3,254 theatres, distributed by GKIDS. It took in $13.5 million on its opening day, a figure that includes $6.7 million from Thursday previews, according to Deadline, as reported by Fiction Horizon and RecapFlicks.
Box office trackers now expect the film to finish its first three days somewhere between $30 million and $33 million, Deadline reported. Variety projected roughly $30 million for the weekend, while Boxoffice Pro put the range at $25 million to $35 million. If the film lands at the top of that range, it will have the biggest domestic opening ever for a foreign-language live-action film — and the biggest debut in the history of distributor GKIDS.
To put that in perspective: the previous record for a live-action foreign-language release in North America was $17.8 million, set by Zhang Yimou's Hero. Godzilla Minus Zero is on track to nearly triple that opening. Worldwide, the film is expected to collect around $60 million this weekend, according to trade estimates cited by RecapFlicks and Filmverse.
2. The Japan Record: A Historic Opening Day
The film's success began at home. Godzilla Minus Zero officially premiered in Japan on Tuesday, 3 November — Godzilla Day, marking the 72nd anniversary of the original 1954 film. On its first day, it grossed 910 million yen, or roughly $5.7 million, and sold more than 590,000 tickets, Toho announced.
That is the biggest opening day ever for a live-action movie in Japan, Japanese or foreign, according to Cinema Today, citing tracker Kogyo Tsushin. The film's first-day take was 201 percent of the opening day of Godzilla Minus One — roughly double its predecessor's start. Toho confirmed it as the biggest opening day ever for any live-action film in Japan.
There is one caveat worth noting: Deadline reported that it could not independently verify the record claim, and noted that the figure still trails the first day of the 2025 anime hit Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which took in 1.64 billion yen. But for live-action films, the record stands. After three days in Japan, the film had earned about 1.37 billion yen, roughly $8.7 million, and local forecasts put the final Japanese total above 10 billion yen, about $63.2 million.
3. What Is Godzilla Minus Zero About?
Godzilla Minus Zero is the direct sequel to Godzilla Minus One, continuing the story of postwar Japan and the giant monster that emerges from the sea. Director Takashi Yamazaki framed the film as a personal, human story tied to postwar trauma, according to Particle News — the same approach that made the first film so much more than a monster movie.
The film runs 135 minutes and is rated R, according to MovieWeb. It is playing in Japanese with English subtitles across North America, which makes its box office performance all the more remarkable: subtitled films rarely open this big in the United States, and R-rated foreign-language films almost never do.
The film's title follows the naming of its predecessor. "Minus One" referred to Japan at zero after the Second World War — and Godzilla dragging it into the minus. "Minus Zero" continues that story, with the country still rebuilding and the monster returning. Audiences do not need to have seen the first film to follow the sequel, but the emotional connection to the characters from Minus One is a big part of why fans turned out in such numbers.
4. The Predecessor: How Minus One Changed Everything
To understand why Minus Zero is such a big deal, you have to understand what Minus One achieved. Released in December 2023, Godzilla Minus One was made on a modest budget by Hollywood standards, yet it became a global phenomenon. It went on to gross $57.1 million domestically in the United States — an extraordinary figure for a Japanese-language film — and it won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, beating Hollywood blockbusters with budgets many times larger.
The Oscar win was a landmark moment. It was the first time a Godzilla film had won an Academy Award, and it proved that a monster movie could be both a crowd-pleaser and a critical success. The film also earned an A CinemaScore from opening-night audiences — the same grade its sequel has now matched.
Minus One set a high bar, as Fiction Horizon put it, "both critically and with audiences, and Godzilla Minus Zero had to clear it." The early numbers suggest it is doing exactly that, and then some. Where Minus One opened to $11 million in the US in December 2023, its sequel is tracking for nearly three times that figure.
5. Audiences Love It: The A CinemaScore
Box office numbers tell only half the story. The other half is how audiences feel — and on that measure, Godzilla Minus Zero is performing exceptionally well. Opening-night audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore, according to box office analyst Luiz Fernando, as reported by Fiction Horizon. That ties the best audience grade in the history of the Godzilla franchise.
An A CinemaScore is rare for any film, and it is especially rare for a non-English-language one. As Fiction Horizon noted, "A CinemaScore like this usually points to a long theatrical run," because it is one of the best predictors of whether people will keep showing up beyond opening weekend — and whether they will recommend the film to friends.
The grade matters because opening weekends are often driven by fans who would show up regardless. Strong word of mouth is what turns a big opening into a long, profitable run. With an A CinemaScore and glowing reviews from critics, Godzilla Minus Zero has the ingredients for exactly that kind of run.
6. The Records It Could Break This Weekend
Here is a summary of the records in play as the weekend unfolds:
Biggest opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film at the domestic box office: the current record is $17.8 million, set by Hero. A $30 million to $33 million opening would nearly double it. Biggest debut in the history of GKIDS: the distributor's current record is the $13 million debut of Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron in 2023, according to Deadline via the Lower Bucks Times. Minus Zero will more than double that.
Biggest opening day ever for a live-action film in Japan: already achieved, with 910 million yen on 3 November, according to Toho. And a global opening of around $60 million would be a remarkable result for a film that cost far less than a typical Hollywood blockbuster.
There is one more milestone in reach: if Minus Zero tops the weekend chart in North America, it would be only the fourth non-English-language movie in US box office history to do so, TheWrap reported. That would put it in truly rare company.
7. The Competition: The Cat in the Hat and the Weekend Race
Godzilla Minus Zero is not the only film opening this weekend. Its main competition is Warner Bros.' The Cat in the Hat, a family animated film that TheWrap projected at $20 million to $22 million. The Lower Bucks Times reported that Godzilla Minus Zero is the box office favourite for the weekend, ahead of The Cat in the Hat.
The contrast between the two films could hardly be sharper: a dark, R-rated Japanese monster movie with subtitles against a colourful American family animation. That the monster movie is expected to win says something about how much the audience for international cinema has grown in the United States — and how strong the Godzilla brand has become.
The film is also performing well beyond the United States and Japan. In the Philippines, for example, it opened on Wednesday, 4 November, and was ranked number two for the week of 4–10 November, with an estimated gross of 7.6 million pesos so far, according to independent tracker Takilya. In Vietnam, the film is in theatres from 6 to 11 November.
8. What Happens Next for Godzilla
With a record-breaking opening in hand, the question is how far Godzilla Minus Zero can go. The first film's domestic total of $57.1 million is already within reach for the sequel's opening weekend alone, and the Japanese forecast of more than 10 billion yen would make it one of the biggest Japanese films of the year.
The franchise as a whole has never been bigger. The all-time box office leader in the Godzilla series is still Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which earned $572 million worldwide in 2024, according to Fiction Horizon. Minus Zero will not reach that figure — it is a very different kind of film, made for a different audience — but its success proves there is room for both kinds of Godzilla movie: the Hollywood blockbuster and the Japanese original.
For Toho and GKIDS, the film's performance is a vindication of a strategy that trusts audiences to embrace subtitled, foreign-language cinema when the film is good enough. For Yamazaki, it confirms his place as one of the most important directors working in blockbuster cinema today. And for Godzilla, 72 years after his first appearance, the king of the monsters is still breaking records.
FAQs About Godzilla Minus Zero
How much did Godzilla Minus Zero make on its opening day in the US?
The film took in $13.5 million on its opening Friday, 6 November 2026, across 3,254 theatres in the US and Canada, including $6.7 million from Thursday previews, according to Deadline.
What is the opening weekend projection for Godzilla Minus Zero?
Deadline reports the film is tracking for a $30 million to $33 million opening weekend in North America, which would be the biggest opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film. The global opening is tipped at around $60 million.
Did Godzilla Minus Zero break records in Japan?
Yes. It grossed 910 million yen (about $5.7 million) on its first day, 3 November 2026, selling more than 590,000 tickets — the biggest opening day ever for a live-action film in Japan, according to Toho.
Is Godzilla Minus Zero a sequel to Godzilla Minus One?
Yes. It is the direct sequel to the 2023 film Godzilla Minus One, directed by Takashi Yamazaki, which won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and grossed $57.1 million in the US.
What CinemaScore did Godzilla Minus Zero earn?
Opening-night audiences gave it an A CinemaScore, tying the best audience grade in the history of the Godzilla franchise — the same grade earned by Godzilla Minus One.
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