'Godzilla' Has Monster Opening on Domestic Box Office With $93 Million

Movie

The new version of the Kaiju movie is the second biggest opener of the year after 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'.

May 19, 2014

AceShowbiz -

Legendary Entertainment earned its second number one movie at the box office this year through "Godzilla". The refurbished version of 1950s Japanese Kaiju classic opened at number one in domestic theaters this weekend with $93.2 million, surpassing its $70 million expectation.

Statistically, the Gareth Edwards-directed film scored some accolades on the box office. It currently has the second biggest opening weekend of 2014 behind the $95 million opening of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and ahead of the $91 million debut of "The Amazing Spider-Man 2". It is also the sixth biggest debut weekend for a non-sequel. Internationally, "Godzilla" has the biggest opening of the year with $103 million.

"It was a monster opening for 'Godzilla' with the numbers coming in well over expectations, Boloomberg Industries analyst Paul Sweeney said. "Hollywood has learned that the success of these tentpole films have to play well at home and globally, and 'Godzilla' is the type of film that is embraced around the world." The film was made on $160 million, Legendary's second big-budget movie after last summer's "Pacific Rim".

Editors' Pick

Elsewhere in the weekend box office, former champ "Neighbors" continued to perform well by earning $25.9 million, followed by "Amazing Spider-Man 2" with $16.8 million. Jon Hamm's sports drama "Million Dollar Arm" debuted at number four with $10.5 million. Fifth placer "The Other Woman (2014)" added $6.3 million in its fourth weekend at the box office.

Both "Godzilla" and "Amazing Spider-Man 2" will face a stiff competition next week with the release of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" in theaters.