You may not know it, but this might have been one of the most important weekends ever for foreign-language films. Two big-budget, non-English-language tentpole movies pulled off surprisingly large grosses this weekend, both internationally and domestically, with the release of Godzilla Minus Zero and Ramayana. Godzilla Minus Zero outperformed most expectations (including our own) to nab $31.6 million domestically, making it the biggest opening ever for a movie not in English in North America.
Godzilla Minus Zero Tops the Box Office
The Toho hit has earned rave reviews, as well as a strong A CinemaScore. In fact, all three top-grossing movies this weekend earned the same, although Godzilla is the only one you can reasonably call a major hit. Overseas, it matched its North American gross, putting it at $63 million worldwide.
Its good fortune proved to be a disaster for Warner Bros.’ The Cat in the Hat. It whiffed in North America with only $20.5 million but fared far worse overseas, grossing only $10 million for a worldwide opening of just $30.5 million. Angel Studios had better luck with families, with its Revolutionary War musical, which was marketed in a grassroots fashion, opening with a solid $9.3 million. Meanwhile, A24’s Elizabeth Holmes doc is near the $80 million domestic mark this weekend, adding another $8.8 million to its coffers. Will it crack $100 million?
Ramayana Makes an Impressive North American Debut
Another biggie this weekend was the Bollywood extravaganza Ramayana, which opened here in both its original Hindi-language version and an English cut, which apparently used AI to match lips to the English dialogue (which the actors—who we interviewed—dubbed themselves). It made $8.6 million for a $12.1 million domestic gross. Since opening Tuesday, it’s made $55.7 million worldwide. It remains to be seen how much of a hit it will be, as it’s the biggest-budget movie in India’s history. As it’s Diwali, the grosses over the next two days will tell whether it will be the blockbuster the makers have hoped for, although its North American gross is fairly impressive so far, even if it has been overshadowed by Godzilla.
Wildwood Holds Strong as Clayface Winds Down
Wildwood’s word of mouth is continuing to aid its box office run, with it declining only 22% this week for a $7 million gross and a $39.8 million domestic total. WB’s Clayface is wrapping up its run, falling 39% this week to $6.6 million and a $56 million domestic total. Overseas, it’s at $109 million. Not a hit, but not a flop either.
The critical darling Wild Horse Nine had a solid opening, grossing $6 million domestically on only about 1,000 screens, and the same internationally, for a worldwide gross of just over $12 million. Hopefully, word of mouth and Oscar buzz help this awesome Martin McDonagh film make a nice profit, with it containing one of John Malkovich’s best-ever performances. The concert film Stray Kids World Tour made $3.7 million, while the top 10 was rounded out by Black Bear’s sleeper hit, Wicker, which made $3.35 million as it closes in on $20 million domestically. Worldwide, it’s at $29 million.
I Play Rocky and Club Kid Score Strong Limited Openings
Outside the top 10, I Play Rocky had a strong debut in New York and L.A., grossing $345K on only seven screens, with a big $49.2K per-screen average. A24’s Club Kid had an even better per-screen average, making $65K per screen at six locations for $390K.
What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
| # | MOVIE TITLE | DOM. GROSS $ | % DROP | DOM. TOTAL $ | INTL. GROSS $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Godzilla Minus Zero | $31.6 M | NEW | $31.6 M | $31.4 M | $63 M |
| 2 | The Cat in the Hat | $20.5 M | NEW | $20.5 M | $10 M | $30.5 M |
| 3 | Drummer Boy | $9.3 M | NEW | $9.3 M | — | — |
| 4 | You Can See Everything | $8.8 M | -23 % | $79.7 M | — | — |
| 5 | Ramayana | $8.6 M | NEW | $12.1 M | $43.6 M | $55.7 M |
| 6 | Wildwood | $7 M | -22 % | $39.8 M | — | — |
| 7 | Clayface | $6.67 M | -39 % | $56.6 M | $6.8 M | $109 M |
| 8 | Wild Horse Nine | $6 M | NEW | $6 M | $6.6 M | $12.6 M |
| 9 | Stray Kids World Tour | $3.7 M | NEW | $3.7 M | — | — |
| 10 | Wicker | $3.35 M | -23 % | $19.8 M | $3.7 M | $29 M |
