Godzilla Minus Zero Roars to a Record Opening as Audiences Give It Top Marks
Godzilla is stomping box office records again. Godzilla Minus Zero, the sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, took $13.5 million on its first day in North American cinemas and is heading for the biggest opening weekend ever for a foreign-language live-action film.
The Japanese monster movie, directed by Takashi Yamazaki, opened in the United States and Canada on Friday, 6 November 2026. Trade paper Deadline reports it is on course for a $30 million to $33 million opening weekend. If it lands in that range, it will comfortably beat the old record of $17.8 million set by Zhang Yimou’s Hero.
It is a remarkable result for a film in Japanese with English subtitles — and a sign of just how far Godzilla’s appeal now reaches beyond Japan.
A monster first day
The numbers from opening day tell the story. According to Deadline, Godzilla Minus Zero earned $13.5 million on Friday across 3,254 theatres in the United States and Canada. That figure includes $6.7 million from Thursday preview screenings.
The previews alone set a record for the film’s distributor, GKIDS, beating the $2.39 million that Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron made from its early shows. Variety put the opening weekend forecast at about $30 million, while Boxoffice Pro gave a range of $25 million to $35 million.
If the $30 million to $33 million projection holds, the film will have the biggest domestic opening ever for a live-action foreign-language movie. It would also be the largest opening in the history of GKIDS, the distributor behind many of Japan’s best-known animated films.
The worldwide picture is just as strong. Deadline expects a global opening of around $60 million, with more than $30 million coming from 23 international territories as the film rolls out across roughly 60 markets.
One important note: these are trade estimates, not final results. The studios’ official weekend figures are due on Sunday, 8 November, so the exact total could still move up or down.
A record start in Japan
The film’s home market was already breaking records before it reached America. Godzilla Minus Zero opened in Japan on Tuesday, 3 November — Godzilla Day, the 72nd anniversary of the original 1954 film.
It took ¥910 million, about $5.7 million, on its first day, selling more than 590,000 tickets. Toho, the studio behind the film, says that is the biggest opening day ever for a live-action film in Japan, for Japanese and foreign films combined. It beat the previous live-action record held by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, which took ¥840 million on its opening day.
Deadline, which reported the Japanese figures, said it could not independently verify Toho’s record claim. It noted that the animated film Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle took ¥1.64 billion, about $11.1 million, on its first day in July 2025 — a bigger number, but for an animated film, not a live-action one.
The opening day was 201 percent higher than the first day of Godzilla Minus One. After three days in Japan, the film had reached ¥1.38 billion, about $8.7 million. Forecasters expect it to pass $11 million in Japan over its opening weekend and to finish above ¥10 billion, about $63.2 million, in its home market.
Audiences love it too
Big opening numbers are one thing. Happy audiences are another — and Godzilla Minus Zero has both.
Opening-night audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore, the top grade the audience-survey company awards. That is rare for a non-English-language film, and it matches the grade earned by Godzilla Minus One. According to Deadline, the only other Godzilla film to receive a solid A was Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021, while 2024’s Godzilla x Kong earned an A-.
A strong CinemaScore usually points to a long run in cinemas, because it means people who saw the film are telling their friends to go. That matters for a film like this one, which needs word of mouth to keep selling tickets after the opening weekend.
The film is also a first for the franchise in another way: it is rated R for “some violent content and bloody images”, the first Godzilla film to carry an R rating in a series that began with the original Godzilla in 1954. It runs 135 minutes and is the first Japanese production ever filmed for IMAX.
The story so far
Godzilla Minus Zero is a direct sequel to Godzilla Minus One, which became one of the surprise hits of 2023. That film opened to $11.4 million in North America — at the time, the biggest opening weekend ever for a Japanese live-action film in the United States — and went on to earn about $57.1 million in North America. It also won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, and ranks as the third-highest-grossing non-English-language film ever at the US box office.
The sequel picks up the story two years later, in 1949. Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe return from the first film, and Takashi Yamazaki is back as writer, director and visual effects supervisor. Early coverage has also revealed a new look at King Ghidorah, the three-headed dragon that is one of Godzilla’s most famous enemies, although Yamazaki kept the creature largely hidden before release.
Godzilla Minus One was made on a reported budget above $15 million, according to Variety, and GKIDS spent a reported $10 million marketing the sequel, according to Deadline. Those are small numbers by Hollywood standards, which makes the box office return even more striking: the sequel is on course to nearly triple its predecessor’s opening weekend.
Why this opening matters
There are several reasons this weekend is about more than one film’s ticket sales.
First, it shows how far foreign-language films have come in the American market. A Japanese-language film topping the North American box office was once unthinkable. If Godzilla Minus Zero finishes first this weekend, it would be the first foreign-language film to top the weekend charts since Chainsaw Man, according to the Global Box Office figures cited by MovieWeb. Its nearest new rival this weekend is the animated The Cat in the Hat.
Second, it is a landmark for GKIDS. The small distributor has built its name on bringing Japanese animation to American cinemas, from Studio Ghibli films to The Boy and the Heron. Godzilla Minus Zero is set to be its biggest opening ever, by a wide margin.
Third, it confirms the remarkable second life of a 72-year-old monster. Godzilla first appeared in 1954, in a Japanese film that used the giant creature as a symbol of the fear of nuclear weapons. Since then, the character has starred in more than 30 Japanese films, plus Hollywood versions, cartoons and comics. Godzilla Minus One proved there was still a huge audience for the Japanese version of the character — serious, human and rooted in post-war Japan. Godzilla Minus Zero is now proving that audience is growing.
There is also a lesson here for the film business. In an age when many big Hollywood films cost $200 million or more to make, a Japanese film made for a fraction of that price is beating them at the box office. Good stories, strong reviews and an audience that trusts the franchise can matter more than the size of the budget.
What happens next
The first question is whether the $30 million to $33 million projection holds when the final weekend numbers arrive on Sunday. A strong Saturday and Sunday would confirm the record; a sharp drop would still leave a very healthy opening, but the record would be in doubt.
The second question is how long the film can keep going. The A CinemaScore suggests audiences will keep coming, and the film still has most of its international markets to open in. If it follows the pattern of Godzilla Minus One, which kept selling tickets for weeks, it could finish far above its opening weekend.
The third question is what it means for Toho and for Japanese cinema. A final Japanese total above ¥10 billion would put Godzilla Minus Zero among the biggest Japanese hits of the year, and a strong global run would encourage more Japanese films to aim for wide releases abroad, rather than settling for small, specialist openings.
For now, though, the monster has done its job. Seventy-two years after Godzilla first rose from the sea, audiences on both sides of the Pacific are still lining up to see him — and this time, they are turning up in record numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Godzilla Minus Zero make on its opening day?
The film took $13.5 million on Friday, 6 November 2026, in the United States and Canada, including $6.7 million from Thursday previews, according to Deadline. It played in 3,254 theatres.
What opening weekend is it heading for?
Deadline projects $30 million to $33 million for the opening weekend. Variety forecast about $30 million. If it reaches that range, it will be the biggest domestic opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film.
What was the previous record?
The previous record for a live-action foreign-language film at the North American box office was $17.8 million, set by Zhang Yimou’s Hero.
How did it do in Japan?
It opened in Japan on 3 November 2026, Godzilla Day, taking ¥910 million (about $5.7 million) on its first day from more than 590,000 admissions. Toho says that is the biggest opening day ever for a live-action film in Japan. After three days it had reached ¥1.38 billion (about $8.7 million).
What did audiences think of it?
Opening-night audiences gave it an A CinemaScore, the same grade as Godzilla Minus One and a rare mark for a non-English-language film.
What is Godzilla Minus Zero about?
It is the direct sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One (2023), set in 1949, two years after the first film. Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe return, and Takashi Yamazaki again writes, directs and leads the visual effects. It is the first Godzilla film rated R, and the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX.
How successful was Godzilla Minus One?
It opened to $11.4 million in North America, earned about $57.1 million there in total, and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Conclusion
Godzilla Minus Zero is more than a big opening weekend. It is the latest proof that a well-made film, in any language, can find a huge audience when the story connects.
Three years ago, Godzilla Minus One surprised Hollywood by turning a small budget and a 70-year-old monster into an Oscar winner and a box office hit. Now its sequel is doing even better — breaking records in Japan, heading for a record opening in North America, and earning top marks from the audiences who saw it first.
For Toho, for GKIDS and for Japanese cinema, it is a triumph. For the rest of the film world, it is a reminder: the biggest opening of the weekend does not have to come from Hollywood, and it does not have to be in English. Sometimes, all it takes is a giant monster — and a story worth telling.
Sources
- Deadline, via Dark Horizons, ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Roars In Early Box-Office, 7 November 2026: https://www.darkhorizons.com/godzilla-minus-zero-roars-in-early-box-office/
- Deadline, via Comic Basics, ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Is Stomping Toward a Record Opening for a Foreign-Language Film, 7 November 2026: https://www.comicbasics.com/godzilla-minus-zero-is-stomping-toward-a-record-opening-for-a-foreign-language-film/
- Deadline, via Fiction Horizon, ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Ties the Franchise’s Best-Ever Audience Grade, 7 November 2026: https://fictionhorizon.com/godzilla-minus-zero-ties-the-franchises-best-ever-audience-grade/
- Variety, via MovieWeb, New Godzilla Epic Set to Stomp Major Box Office Records Ahead of Opening Weekend, 5 November 2026: https://movieweb.com/godzilla-minus-zero-box-office-record/
- Toho / GKIDS, via Godzilla.com, Godzilla Minus Zero Scores the #1 All-Time Opening Day Box Office for a Live-Action Film in Japan, 4 November 2026: https://godzilla.com/en-gb/blogs/news/godzilla-minus-zero-scores-the-1-all-time-opening-day-box-office-for-a-live-action-film-in-japan
- ComingSoon, Godzilla Minus Zero Is Already Roaring at Box Office With First Numbers, 6 November 2026: https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2219099-godzilla-minus-zero-box-office-opening-night
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
