Godzilla Minus Zero has roared into North American theatres with a record-breaking first day, taking 13.5 million dollars on Friday, 6 November 2026, including 6.7 million dollars from Thursday previews, according to trade estimates.
The film opened in 3,254 theatres across the United States and Canada, and early projections put its opening weekend at 30 to 33 million dollars. If it holds, it would be the biggest domestic opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film, passing Hero’s 17.8 million dollars from 2004, and the biggest opening ever for distributor GKIDS.
Opening-night audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore — the same grade as its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One — a rare result for a non-English-language film. Audiences clearly loved what they saw, and the word of mouth should carry it through the weekend.
The North American result follows a huge opening in Japan. The film opened there on 3 November, Godzilla Day, with 910 million yen — about 5.7 million dollars — on day one, the biggest opening day ever for a live-action film in Japan, and took about 1.38 billion yen in its first three days. Its global opening is tipped at around 60 million dollars.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the film is 135 minutes long and is the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX. Its predecessor opened to 11.4 million dollars in the US, went on to gross 57.1 million dollars there, and won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
The weekend total is still a projection, not a final figure, but the Friday number alone tells the story: Godzilla is bigger than ever, and audiences on both sides of the Pacific are turning up in force.
It caps a huge week for the franchise, from the final trailer revealing King Ghidorah to the record-breaking Japan opening. Godzilla Minus Zero is in theatres now.
Bhudev Bhagaliya is an experienced and senior journalist who has carved a distinct niche for himself in the world of Hindi journalism through his profound understanding and precise writing style. With over two decades of experience in the field of journalism, he has held key responsibilities at Dainik Hindustan for 12 years and at Amar Ujala for one year. Currently, he serves as the Content Editor for the Jagrook Youth News newspaper and portal, where he plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality and credibility of the news content. Bhudev Bhagaliya consistently writes about issues that help raise awareness within society and among the younger generation.