Thanks to an excellent opening weekend haul posted byGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Warner Bros., and Legendary’sMonsterVerse franchisehas passed a monumental milestone at the global box office. Five movies down, the shared universe on Sundaycrossed the $2 billion mark globally. This comes mere days after fellow W.B. and Legendary moviesDuneandDune: Part Twopassed a combined global box office total of $1 billion.
Godzilla x Kongdebuted with$80 million domesticallyand nearly $115 million from overseas markets, for a combinedglobal gross of $194 million. The movie exceeded expectations pretty much everywhere around the world, but mainly in North America, where it was initially projected to gross around $50 million.Godzilla x Kongwasalso successful in China, where it generated $44 million in its first three days of release, rekindling interest in Hollywood films at a time when the Middle Kingdom had mostly cordoned them off.
MonsterVerse Movies
Global Box Office
Godzilla (2014)
$529 million
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
$561 million
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)
$383 million
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
$468 million
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)
$194 million (and counting)
IncludingGodzilla x Kong’s $194 million haul, theMonsterVerse franchise’s global box office total now stands at $2.135 billion, making it one of the rare shared universes that have succeeded outside theMarvel Cinematic Universe. After the MCU gained traction around a decade and change ago, rival studios put into motion varied attempts to replicate its success. While most of them disintegrated —the DC Extended Universeand theDark Universespring to mind — a couple of others survived. The only other shared franchise that has witnessed this kind of success is perhapsJames Wan’s Conjuring series, which has generated $2.3 billion worldwide.
The MonsterVerse Has Also Expanded to Streaming
The MonsterVerse began a decade ago, with directorGareth Edwards’ grounded rebootGodzilla, which grossed $530 million globally. In 2017, directorJordan Vogt-Roberts’Kong: Skull Islandexpanded the series, grossing $560 million globally. The series hit a bit of a speed bump in 2019, when directorMichael Doherty’sGodzilla: King of the Monstersfailed to pass the $400 million milestone worldwide, but bounced back in peak-pandemic 2021 with directorAdam Wingard’sGodzilla vs. Kong. Despite being released simultaneously on streaming, the movie grossed $470 million globally. Wingard returned to directGodzilla x Kong, which is already pacing way ahead of its predecessor.
W.B. and Legendary kept the budget for the film in check; themovie cost a reported $135 million to produce, as compared to the $155 million to $185 million budget range that the franchise’s previous entries occupied. Incidentally, two other franchises also crossed box office milestones in the last week or so — theGhostbusters series hit the $1 billionmark worldwide, while theKung Fu Panda series hit the $2 billion mark.Godzilla x Konglanded in theaters just a few months after the unrelated Japanese filmGodzilla Minus Onebecame a word-of-mouth hit in the domestic market, grossing over $50 million and winning an Oscar for visual effects. Interest in the iconic kaiju seems to be at an all-time high. You can watch the movie in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
Kong and the fearsome Godzilla face off against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.
