Godzilla Minus Zero Roars to $30.5M Debut, Tops Cat in the Hat

WHO:

Reddit Movies - GKids distributed *Godzilla Minus Zero*; Toho was credited with its marketing.

A.V. Club - *Godzilla Minus Zero* and *The Cat in the Hat* were the weekend’s leading releases; the latter was directed by Taika Waititi.

Variety - Sony’s *Ramayana: Rise of a Legend* and Anime Ltd.’s *Godzilla Minus Zero* competed in the U.K. and Ireland box office.

WHAT:

Reddit Movies - *Godzilla Minus Zero* opened in the U.S. with $30.5 million in 3,254 theaters, the best debut for a live-action foreign-language film and GKids’ biggest debut. The article reported a $61.9 million worldwide opening, including $31.3 million overseas.

A.V. Club - The film earned $31.6 million in its first few days, according to figures cited by the article. It was the largest North American opening for a live-action, non-English-language film, surpassing *Hero*’s $17.8 million opening. IMAX accounted for about 40% of its gross.

Reddit Movies - The film earned 2.7 billion yen ($17 million) in Japan, a franchise record; its reported production budget was $13 million.

Reddit Movies - *The Cat in the Hat* opened domestically with $20 million in 4,003 theaters and earned $10 million overseas, for a $30 million worldwide opening. Its production budget was reported as $92 million.

Reddit Movies - *Ramayana: Rise of a Legend* opened with $8.9 million domestically ($12.4 million over four days) and $51.9 million worldwide, including $39.5 million overseas.

Variety - *Ramayana: Rise of a Legend* became the first Indian feature to debut atop the U.K. and Ireland box office, earning £2.1 million ($2.8 million).

Reddit Movies - The weekend’s U.S. top 10 films earned a combined $103.7 million, 41.3% more than the comparable weekend a year earlier.

A.V. Club - *The Cat in the Hat* opened to $20 million and played in about 750 more theaters than *Godzilla Minus Zero*. Its Rotten Tomatoes score was 44%; the audience score was 88%. The article quoted critic Jacob Oller describing it as “generic, interchangeable, and saccharine.”

Reddit Movies - *Godzilla Minus Zero* received a CinemaScore “A,” a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score, and a 74 Metacritic score. GKids reported that 76% of its audience was male and 63% was aged 18–34.

Reddit Movies - *Ramayana* earned $32 million in India and set Indian-film records in the U.K. ($3 million), Thailand ($550,000), the Netherlands ($240,000), and South Africa ($75,000). Its reported budget was $250 million.

WHERE:

A.V. Club - *Godzilla Minus Zero*’s box-office figures concern North America; IMAX theaters contributed about 40% of its gross.

Variety - *Ramayana: Rise of a Legend* topped the U.K. and Ireland box office.

HOW:

Reddit Movies - GKids and Toho promoted *Godzilla Minus Zero* with a marketing campaign aimed at reaching more fans.

A.V. Club - *Godzilla Minus Zero* was the first Japanese film filmed for IMAX.

(UPDATED November 10, 2026 05:04 UTC)

Godzilla Minus Zero opened domestically to a record $30.5 million for a foreign-language live-action film. Its worldwide opening reached $61.9 million, with IMAX contributing substantially. Ramayana topped U.K. and Ireland theaters, becoming the first Indian feature to do so.