IMAX delivered a roaring international debut for “Godzilla vs. Kong,” earning $12.4 million for the weekend across 891 screens in 40 markets worldwide. In a positive sign as the summer blockbuster season approaches, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures’ epic kaiju clash scored the biggest opening weekend in IMAX for a Hollywood film since December 2019.
China led the way as the highest-grossing IMAX market with $9.4 million in the weekend box office — good for 14% of the film’s total Chinese box office on only 1% of screens in the market. Worldwide, IMAX delivered 10% of the film’s weekend box office despite accounting for just 1% of screens — continuing IMAX’s history of strong market share with the “Monsterverse” franchise.
“Godzilla vs. Kong” expands to at least 1170 IMAX screens worldwide on March 31 when it debuts in North America — where pre-sales have been brisk with multiple shows already sold out across top-performing IMAX locations.
“‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible and audiences worldwide are answering the call — continuing to drive market share gains for IMAX and proving there is real business to be done for Hollywood blockbusters,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “We are particularly encouraged by the film’s strong debut in China, where audiences turned out in a big way for this Hollywood franchise.”
“Godzilla vs. Kong” currently stands as king among the films in the “Monsterverse,” winning the franchise’s biggest IMAX opening weekend in thirteen markets, including China, India, and Russia. In China, IMAX screens are featured in each of the film’s top ten highest-grossing theaters. Despite capacity limitations of up to 50%, numerous markets delivered healthy per-screen averages in IMAX theaters, including Australia ($63K), Hong Kong ($51K), Saudi Arabia ($43K), Thailand ($31K), UAE ($21K) and Singapore ($21K).
