‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ hits pandemic box office arc with $ 20-30 million – Deadline

Unlike Easter last year, we’re actually going to be able to go to the movies this weekend.

With drive-ins operating only in the United States and Canada as the primary medium for film distribution, Universal released its title DreamWorks Animation last March. Troll world tour in homes on Premium VOD for the rental price of $ 19.99 (over 48 hours) and grabbed every movie theater possible. Universal has made $ 100 million, according to reports Troll world tour in the first 19 days of the title. There was a lot of fuss over the exhibit on Uni’s Dismantling of Theatrical Showcases, and the unfolding of the day and date, but in hindsight it was a necessary pivot with all shutting down. indoor movie theaters.

Even though Warner Bros has the legendary title Godzilla vs. Kong on its HBO Max streaming service (in its first 31 days) and in theaters starting Wednesday, the film is expected to provide some cash for the show as they seek a return, especially with the reopening of Los Angeles and New York. Godzilla vs. Kong set pandemic sea opening records for a Hollywood film last weekend with $ 123 million, and the legendary monster mash is set to make the biggest domestic debut for a major studio film during that time (since end of March 2020) with an estimate $ 20M to $ 30M from Wednesday to Sunday.

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At the very least, the Fall of Monsters led by Legendary fourth Adam Wingard will easily eclipse the start of Warner Bros. Christmas weekend 2020 in the United States. Wonder Woman 1984is $ 16.7 million. Already, sources tell me that Godzilla vs. Kong booked more than 10,000 private viewing nights at theaters across the United States, a number that surpassed bookings of Wonder Woman 1984 which held the previous high for these RSVPs. Since most theaters operate on shorter schedules in the middle of the week, Godzilla vs. Kong hopes to be at its peak by Friday, when Circuit # 2 Regal returns after a five-month shutdown.

While Godzilla vs. KongU.S. debut is weak compared to its brethren’s pre-pandemic debut Godzilla ($ 93.1 M), Kong: Skull Island ($ 61 million) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters ($ 47.7 M), be aware that in an exhibition landscape that is continually broken up with only 3,100 out of 5,800 rooms reopened, the screening of Godzilla vs. Kong underlines the desire of moviegoers to return to the cinema.

As we squashed, the return of cinema will be gradual, not rapid. Godzilla vs. Kong is just an increment. While the film is booked in 3,000 theaters or 6,000 screens, the most for wide release during the pandemic after Principlefrom 2,810 and WW1984If you look under the hood, this number is accompanied by many asterisks when it comes to BO accelerators and decelerators.

For example, most of Canada’s cinemas in populated areas are not open, and in response to this Godzilla vs. Kong will be available on PVOD in the Grand Nord Blanc, in particular on the Cineplex online store.

Regal, the # 2 channel in the US, will only reopen 22 of its 542 locations nationwide this weekend, but sources tell me these are their biggest revenue generators. These locations include LA Live in downtown, Spectrum Irvine, and Valencia Screen X in Santa Clarita, California; Union Square in New York; the Greenway Grand and the MarqE in Houston; Mira Mesa in San Diego; and Hacienda in San Francisco among others. Regal will open a new strip for New Line’s Mortal combat April 16.

As to when Los Angeles drops to 50% capacity for indoor theaters, we hope to hear more today; the benchmark is not expected to be reached until after the Easter weekend. The only exception to this is if California reaches 4 million vaccinations in underprivileged communities. If that happens, the state will drop to Orange level, which could be before this weekend.

On the upside for Warner Bros, he will have full control of Imax and PLF for the month of April between Godzilla vs. Kong and Mortal combat. Of the number of theaters in the first, 285 sites are Imax auditoriums, 650 are PLF screens, more than 700 are in 3D, with 150 other drive-ins.

Other positive factors for Godzilla vs. Kong: The sequel has Rotten Tomatoes’ best score among the four legendary monster movies with a current certified rate of 80%, besting Godzilla76% fresh, Kong: Skull Island75% fresh and 2019 Godzilla: King of the Monsters“Horrible 42% rotten.

In total, including last weekend, Legendary’s monster franchise has $ 1.6 billion at the global box office.