‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Reaches $80 Million as U.S. Box Office Slows Again
On a weekend when the film industry is still grappling with the closure of Pacific Theaters and ArcLight Cinemas, the box office slowed down again. For now, Warner Bros. title “Godzilla vs. Kong” will stay No. 1 with $7.7 million in its third weekend in 3,001 locations, giving it a domestic total of $80.5 million.
Globally, the film now has a total of $390.5 million, as a combination of steadily reopening U.S. theaters and significantly recovered markets in China, Australia, Mexico and Taiwan have pushed the film past the $363.6 million total earned by “Tenet” last fall. This week, “Godzilla vs. Kong” will become the first Hollywood blockbuster since “Bad Boys for Life” 15 months ago to gross over $400 million worldwide.
Universal’s “Nobody” stays in second with $2.5 million in its fourth weekend from 2,405 locations. The film was made available as a premium on-demand title thanks to Universal’s theatrical window deal with AMC and Cinemark. But it has held consistently in the $2 million range over the past three weekends as it has quietly accumulated a total of $19 million domestic and $34.5 million internationally.
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Sony/Screen Gems’ “The Unholy” and Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” are in a narrow race for third with “Unholy” holding an edge with $2.06 million from 2,057 locations in its third weekend and a $9.5 million total. “Raya” earned $1.9 million from 1,945 locations in its seventh weekend for a domestic total of $37.6 million. Warner Bros.’ “Tom & Jerry” completes the Top 5 with $1.09 million from 2,028 screens in its eighth weekend for a $42.5 million domestic total.
On the independent side, IFC Films released the romance film “Monday” starring Sebastian Stan and Denise Gough in 54 theaters along with on-demand availability, grossing $22,000 for a per-theater average of $407. The release comes as indie distribution struggles to get back on its feet with cities critical to the box office subset like New York still placing 25% capacity limits on theaters. Even the 50% limit set on Los Angeles and San Francisco, while a relief for studios with wide releases, is still a major problem for films with limited release that rely on sellout screenings.
Also Read: Arclight and Pacific Theaters Close Permanently
ArcLight Theaters made a significant amount of its profit from having an exclusivity period on major limited releases in Los Angeles, including on four-screen platform releases in L.A. and New York. With indie films trying to work around capacity limits by releasing initially in 50 screens or greater — and in the case of some films like “Monday,” also opening day-and-date — sources have told TheWrap that is unclear whether ArcLight would be able to have theatrical exclusivity in 2021. ArcLight Cinemas, along with sister company Pacific Theaters, announced that it would not reopen this past week, shuttering 300 theaters in California.
Read original story ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Reaches $80 Million as U.S. Box Office Slows Again At TheWrap
