Godzilla vs. Kong

[Nick]

Box Office: ‘Godzilla vs. Kong’ Sets Pandemic Record With $48.5 Million Debut

"Godzilla vs. Kong" muscled its way to a pandemic-era box office record.

variety.com

Go theaters go!

It was only $32M for the 3-Day, but if you just count the 5-day as one long weekend, this opening actually did better than King of the Monsters, which opened at $47.7 (and a chunk of that is from Thursday showings rolled into Friday, remember).

 

[CoryLevy91]

Eh. I thought the human scenes worked in establishing a “why” to all the major plot beats. Especially in the third act. Without the Apex investigation gang, there’s no direct connection for viewers as to why Godzilla is attacking cities. And the Monarch team is critical to why Godzilla hasn’t gone after Kong yet and why he’s going after him now. They were necessary and not so egregiously awful they hurt the entire film.

I think you could have cut the MBB gang out and funneled the entire story through Lind and his gang. Lind is the person Simmons goes to in order to get to the Hollow Earth and power MechaGodzilla in the first place. Introduce Godzilla attacking Apex/Simmons wanting to get to the Hollow Earth to find a solution to Godzilla's temperament -> Simmons goes to Lind because Linda has Hollow Earth background -> Lind needs Kong and his human characters in order to breach through to the Hollow Earth -> Kong/Lind's crew are turned on by Simmons' security crew/daughter -> Lind crew/Kong make it out of the Hollow Earth just barely only to find Simmons didn't want to go to Hollow Earth to stop Godzilla but to make MechaGodzilla, who they lose control over shortly after going online because reasons -> Simmons is killed by a berserk MechaGodzilla just as he's about to execute Lind -> final showdown between Kong/Godzilla and MechaGodzilla.

I don't think the MBB crew hurt the movie but the overall narrative would have felt stronger if the story followed pretty much just Lind/Ilene/Simmons as the main human characters. More screen time for them could have also meant a more likely rewarded 'reconnect' at the end between Lind/Ilene. There's no reason to think you couldn't hit all the necessary plot beats between just them, especially if you're going to just drop literal transportation holes into the story that will get the characters where they need to be (the Apex super subway, the hole to the Hollow Earth Godzilla beams down, general air transport, etc).

 

[AlexanderMBush]

To go bigger than Variety's article, GvK overall is currently at 285+Million.

 

[Nick]

To go bigger than Variety's article, GvK overall is currently at 285+Million.

Amazing when you consider that King of the Monsters only made $386.6M Worldwide total during normal times (which, thankfully, we’re headed back towards).

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Amazing when you consider that King of the Monsters only made $386.6M Worldwide total during normal times (which, thankfully, we’re headed back towards).

The amazing thing, is that this number is going to climb.

Throughout the month of may--the only bit of competition that Warner Bros. Pictures is going to have, is themselves with the R-rated Mortal Kombat. Outside of that, the next major films to come out are Spiral, Cruella, and A Quiet Place Part Two. Two of those won't even be out until the end of the month, and Saw & A Quiet Place are direct horror franchises that won't interfere with GvK. This number, is going to rise up, atleast until Fast9 and Into the Heights comes out in June.

Coupled with internationally, Godzilla vs. Kong has equal opportunity to not only make profit, but to continue breathing life into the Monsterverse because of this lightning in a bottle moment for the franchise. And that, isn't even considering how much of a hit it's likely being for HBOMax right now.

 

[Jamesh22]

The amazing thing, is that this number is going to climb.

Throughout the month of may--the only bit of competition that Warner Bros. Pictures is going to have, is themselves with the R-rated Mortal Kombat. Outside of that, the next major films to come out are Spiral, Cruella, and A Quiet Place Part Two. Two of those won't even be out until the end of the month, and Saw & A Quiet Place are direct horror franchises that won't interfere with GvK. This number, is going to rise up, atleast until Fast9 and Into the Heights comes out in June.

Coupled with internationally, Godzilla vs. Kong has equal opportunity to not only make profit, but to continue breathing life into the Monsterverse because of this lightning in a bottle moment for the franchise. And that, isn't even considering how much of a hit it's likely being for HBOMax right now.

Totally agree.

Also lets factor in that movies are unlikely to be quite so front loaded right now as people try to avoid big crowds.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

She's 17. I was looking at what someone like Saiorse Ronan or Florence Pugh were doing around a younger/similar age. In 2008, Ronan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a film that was shot when she was 12 and by 2012 at age 18 she was in Hanna, which is a really good action film and proof she would kill in an MCU movie.

Florence Pugh similarly won awards in 2016 for her breakthrough role (mostly among British audiences) in Lady MacBeth and subsequently would star in Midsommar and Little Women, and is ultimately what has earned her her part in the MCU as well.

I agree that Millie is 17 and anything can happen. But she may have already had a slight breakout moment that no one noticed because it's on Netflix. She was actually very good in Enola Holmes I thought and I remember her performance being praised. I feel like these monster movies just aren't her thing and unfortunately she has spent so much of her teenage years working on Stranger Things along with said Monster Movies that she's hardly had time to fit in any other projects to her schedule.

^This seems like a weird hill to die on.

Anyway, movie was okay...there was something kind of novel about watching a first-run “event” movie in my home but not sure I’d have given it two thoughts if it was just another movie I had seen in the movie theater.

I do wonder if this release strategy introduces a sea change in the movie industry. Will tentpole pictures now all have simultaneous theater/home releases? And if so, what does that do to budgets/marketing strategies? Will premium subscription fees for home viewing supplant the Chinese market to the point we can get risky high-budget blockbusters again? Or will a presumed downward trend in theater viewing mean the opposite?

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

^This seems like a weird hill to die on.

Anyway, movie was okay...there was something kind of novel about watching a first-run “event” movie in my home but not sure I’d have given it two thoughts if it was just another movie I had seen in the movie theater.

I do wonder if this release strategy introduces a sea change in the movie industry. Will tentpole pictures now all have simultaneous theater/home releases? And if so, what does that do to budgets/marketing strategies? Will premium subscription fees for home viewing supplant the Chinese market to the point we can get risky high-budget blockbusters again? Or will a presumed downward trend in theater viewing mean the opposite?

Honestly I think this whole simultaneous at home and in theaters thing might just be temporary, at least in the form that we currently know it in. Wouldnt be surprised if some services take more of a disney model charging extra for the convenience of staying home once theaters are widely available to most people, if this kind of thing continues at all.

 

[Nick]

^This seems like a weird hill to die on.

Anyway, movie was okay...there was something kind of novel about watching a first-run “event” movie in my home but not sure I’d have given it two thoughts if it was just another movie I had seen in the movie theater.

I do wonder if this release strategy introduces a sea change in the movie industry. Will tentpole pictures now all have simultaneous theater/home releases? And if so, what does that do to budgets/marketing strategies? Will premium subscription fees for home viewing supplant the Chinese market to the point we can get risky high-budget blockbusters again? Or will a presumed downward trend in theater viewing mean the opposite?

What hill am I dying on? I’m saying Millie is talented, but she needs to get away from ST and Godzilla movies and expand her range.

I feel like that’s a fairly logical thing to say.

 

[faceleg]

I thought this movie was quite perfect.

 

[Grabnar]

Honestly my biggest problem with this movie was the VFX, namely the water effects. It looked just off enough to pull me out in more than a couple of scenes.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

What hill am I dying on? I’m saying Millie is talented, but she needs to get away from ST and Godzilla movies and expand her range.

I feel like that’s a fairly logical thing to say.

I don't think she'll have any trouble transitioning to other roles. Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin have gotten into other genres beyond sci-fi/horror, and since MBB is probably the most high profile of the ST kids, she will be in demand when the show is over.

 

[JungleSkip]

Went to the drive in Saturday to see it. 10/10, perfect Godzilla movie. Gimme more.

 

[Nick]

I don't think she'll have any trouble transitioning to other roles. Finn Wolfhard and Caleb McLaughlin have gotten into other genres beyond sci-fi/horror, and since MBB is probably the most high profile of the ST kids, she will be in demand when the show is over.

Again, I’m not saying she will. You seem to be misunderstanding me.