Godzilla Minus Zero Ramayana Box Office: $63M vs $55.7M Opening
Toho's Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $63 million worldwide and set a record for a live-action foreign-language film in North America. Ramayana: Rise of a Legend followed with a studio-reported $55.7 million, a Diwali opening record for an Indian production, with Indonesia next on November 11.
Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $63 million worldwide over the weekend, and Ramayana: Rise of a Legend followed with a studio-reported $55.7 million, as the godzilla minus zero ramayana pairing gave Asian cinema a dominant global box office weekend.
Toho's monster sequel, directed by Takashi Yamazaki, earned $31.6 million in North America through distributor GKIDS. Another $31.4 million came from international markets.
A record for foreign-language films
The $31.6 million North American debut is the largest ever for a live-action foreign-language film. It beat the previous high, set by Zhang Yimou's martial arts epic Hero, which opened to $17.8 million in 2002.
The R-rated film holds a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from CinemaScore audience polling. Premium large-format screens, including Dolby, made up 74% of its domestic ticket sales.
Imax screens delivered $21.3 million worldwide, or 34% of the total. That is the biggest global Imax opening for a Japanese title. In North America, Imax brought in $12.7 million across 429 venues, 40% of the domestic take.
Japan added a record $4 million on Imax, the territory's biggest Imax launch. Since opening there on a Tuesday, Godzilla Day, the film has collected 2.7 billion yen, or $17 million.
"Fans are overwhelmingly choosing to experience it in on our screens," said Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax.
Ramayana's Diwali debut
Ramayana: Rise of a Legend stars Ranbir Kapoor and Yash. Sony Pictures and Prime Focus Studios present it, in association with Monster Mind Creations and DNEG. Its $55.7 million is a Diwali holiday opening record for an Indian production.
India supplied $32 million. The United States and Canada added $12.2 million over four days, and 37 other territories handled by Sony contributed $11.5 million.
The studio says the film sold more than 11 million tickets and was the most-watched movie in the world over the weekend. Deadline noted that nothing independently supports that claim.
The film opened on more than 10,000 screens in over 130 countries, dubbed in 17 languages. Its North American opening is the second biggest for an Indian movie, behind Dhurandhar: The Revenge, which debuted to $14 million in March.
Ramayana set local opening records for an Indian film in the United Kingdom ($3.0 million), Thailand ($550,000), the Netherlands ($240,000) and South Africa ($75,000). Other strong markets were the United Arab Emirates ($2.2 million), Australia ($1.9 million), Germany ($625,000) and Nepal ($500,000).
Ramayana reportedly ranked first in the UK and Australia. Godzilla Minus Zero led in Mexico and most of Latin America, though not Brazil, where a local comedy topped the chart.
Where Ramayana opens next
Ramayana arrives in Indonesia on November 11, followed by Hong Kong, Mexico and Central Asia on November 12. Brazil, Italy, Ukraine and Hungary open on November 19, and Poland on November 20.
Argentina, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Czechia follow on November 26.
