December is a big month for movie theaters. Studios put out their most promising dramas, hoping to be considered for Oscar gold after the New Year, and sometimes big tentpole movies are released in hopes of bringing families together at the movies during the Holiday season. There are a lot of great entries in theaters this year, but the big winner this week was the Japanese film, Godzilla Minus One. Despite some box office competition with films like Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the action film broke some big records at the box office, making it a win of international cinema.
According to a press release by Toho International, Godzilla Minus One did incredibly well at the box office in its first week of US release. The film grossed $14.36 million, making it the highest-grossing live action Japanese film in North America. It also had the biggest international film opening of the year in the US, pulling ahead of notable awards fodder like Anatomy of a Fall and The Taste of Things. According to Box Office Mojo, the Takashi Yamazaki-directed film has grossed a total of $42.35 million worldwide so far, which is a big win against a $15 million budget.
