The newest entry in the Warner Bros./Legendary so-called “Monsterverse,” Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, put up big box office numbers over its opening weekend.
The movie earned $80 million in North America alone over its debut weekend, which is good for the No. 2 best domestic start so far in 2024, only trailing Dune: Part Two ($82.5 million).
The New Empire earned a further $114 million from international markets, which pushes the movie’s worldwide total after one weekend to $194 million. Across five movies, the Monsterverse has earned more than $2 billion, according to Deadline.
2014’s Godzilla kicked off this new run of Monsterverse films. Kong: Skull Island followed in 2017, then Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019, Godzilla vs. Kong in 2021, and finally New Empire this year.
Adam Wingard directed both Godzilla vs. Kong and The New Empire. Legendary’s Mary Parent told Deadline that Wingard has a “wild imagination” and has “great ideas” for how to tell big monster stories in ways that audiences understand and enjoy. “He has a kid-like imagination that hasn’t been extinguished as an adult and he knows how to tap into that,” Parent said.
Given the massive success of the Monsterverse series so far, fans can reasonably expect future installments, though none have been announced as of yet.
The New Empire stars Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Kaylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, and Fala Chen. Godzilla vs. Kong writer Terry Rossio returned to write the screenplay for The New Empire.
In other Godzilla news, Godzilla Minus One won an Academy Award this year for Best Visual Effects.
For more, check out GameSpot’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire review and our interview feature with Wingard.
