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Godzilla Minus Onenow at $14.36 million at the box office, has stomped into a record — it’s now the highest grossing live-action Japanese film in North America. This follows an opening weekend that marked the biggest Stateside debut of a foreign film this year.
Distributor Toho International said it’s been adding screens this week due to marketplace demand. It will be playing the film by Takashi Yamazaki in 2,540 locations (up from 2,308).
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Godzilla Minus One made over $11.4 million at its North America opening, beating Godzilla 2000: Millennium ($10 million) and current title-holder The Adventures of Milo & Otis (a comedy adventure with orange tabby cat Milo and pug Otis), which grossed $14.1 million in 1989 and a 1990 re-release.
It’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 97% with critics (read Deadline’s review here) and 98% with audiences.
The biggest foreign opening this year was Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaibawhich opened to $10.1 million in March.
Yamazaki also wrote the screenplay and served as director of VFX. “I am happy that Godzilla, of all characters, has eclipsed a record that had not been broken for a long time. Looking back, I think that the cast and crew were all working on the film with the same goal in mind: to make something entertaining! That is what led to such a wonderful result. I will always remember this,” he said in a statement provided by Toho.
The film is set in post-World War II Japan as a devastated nation must contend with a new crisis in the form of a giant monster. It opened this year’s Tokyo Film Festival.
“Toho’s iconic movie monster Godzilla remains a screen idol some 70 years after first appearing in theaters,” said Comscore’s Paul Degarabedian. “This exciting and original take on the Godzilla mythology has captivated audiences and critics alike with its impressive VFX imagery, bold filmmaking style and the box office result reflects the enthusiastic moviegoer response to the film.”
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