Godzilla Box Office Updates

@Something Real & @The Weaver -

As you know, I've earlier lavished praise on the design of Godzilla and his roar and the MUTOs. But sometimes, just being pleased with one aspect really isn't enough for a movie that aims for huge box-office numbers, all the more so when it carries with it the title of King of Monsters. And this, coming from a Godzilla fan who has been disappointed with 1998's giant Iguana. As it turns out, Godzilla 2014 is indeed more awe-inspiring and bigger in many ways than Godzilla 1998, but make no mistake. - What is considered epic 16 years ago, may no longer be considered awesome in today's generation, when after all the movie industry has evolved into such titanic proportions isn't it?

Audiences over the years, have seen more than they have compared to before. Imaginations have been stretched, the skies have no limit. The mistake here is when a new director tries to build Godzilla 2014 into something far better than Godzilla 1998, but forgets the landscape today is a vastly different one today. 

Gareth Edwards' style of direction appears to emulate the familar lines seen in other epic directors' footsteps, (I see influences from Jurassic Park, Jaws, Super 8, World of the Wars, etc.) but yet he lacks the courage or conviction to bring these scenes one step further on his own, and that's where he falls short. And people can see that. The result is a Godzilla that falls short of the awesomeness that people have come to expect. And it is all the more glaring when you consider that Guillermo Del Toro's Pacific Rim was born out of Legendary Pictures too, and the fact that Godzilla appears less awesome than the Kaijus in an earlier movie like Pacific Rim than it would have otherwise suggested, is somewhat surprising and unacceptable to audiences.

With Guillermo Del Toro putting so much ferocity into his monsters and battle scenes with no title to call on his creations, what exactly is there to limit the potential of a monster like Godzilla that comes with the title of 'King of Monsters'? You simply don't limit awesomeness. ;)

DESTROYAH-X

What Godzilla 2014 lacked is its characterization, that is the only reason why the movie failed to live up to Spielberg's quality, and I have always admitted it as its greatest flaw, but I disagree vehemently that everything else is also poorly executed.

There is far more on awesomeness in Gareth's Godzilla than however you've come to view him, and I don't think you really see how much exactly. You've seen Godzilla being beaten and punched by creatures who don't look intimidating so you believe Godzilla has gotten weaker. People came to think that Godzilla should have been more evil or darker and destructive to mankind, when in truth after you actually get to think long and hard, that attitude makes Godzilla look a big angry kid that got hurt by ants. Gareth's Godzilla is the most awesome monster ever made, and yes, I will go that far to say that. Even the MUTOs themselves are ten times more interesting than Del Toro's kaiju's because they're not some evil ferocious demons that are hellbent to destroy humankind. It is what nature is capable of that terrifies us, the simple idea that nature itself can catastrophically ravage the world with just a couple of big dinosaurs. While Del Toro's kaiju's are simply a bunch of clones by aliens who want to conquer the Earth.

Terror comes from the unknown, we do not know how the MUTOs could have possibly existed, we do not know how Godzilla could have survived for so long (Radiation can only explain so much) and worse yet we have not the slightest clue what darker forces lurk within those waters or underground, but we are assured that Godzilla has made the Pacific its kingdom, he is its lord and anyone who challenges him will pay dearly. Humans are like termites that have spread all over the place, and the fact that he doesn't even consider us makes us look incredibly beneath him. We're not even a threat to a creature who has lived for millions of years and has fought things we've never believed are real or imagined.

There is more to awesomeness than ferocity, competence or brute force. There is depth to consider, how much a monster makes you think around its habitat and its entire lifespan, its emotions, its goals, its objectives.

Let me put it this way, Godzilla is like an immortal cowboy that has lived for thousands of years, he arrives in a town and kills a few goons that he was hunting, all without saying a word and explaining why, and the town's people cheer for him as a hero while he rides away uncaringly on his horse to the sunset.

Del Toro's kaiju's are goons that attacked a town because they want to take it for a mafia boss who likes its resources.

There's immense depth and mysteries to wonder at in that immortal cowboy than the big burly goons following orders of some aliens. You think awesomeness is limited but on contraire, it is greater than anything before. This is why I said that the movie is sadly not for everyone, it's for people who can appreciate wondering about things that aren't spoon-fed on the screen. By simply introducing a monster with depth that doesn't need to be portrayed by how mean he fights or looks, is all you need.

Less is more in this case. In certain cases the same can be said the other way around, but I don't see how non stop action which has been done to death in hollywood is more appealing than buildup which is a proven successful formula and is consistent with epics. If this wasn't Godzilla, or a already sacred franchise I would wholeheartedly agree. Shoot em up with less shooting would have been pathetic. Transformers with less action after the first installment would have been boring, but shoot em up had nothign to follow, and transformers loosly followed a cartoon which also had comparable amounts of action, it's not the same thing at all when you give a protagonist the same screen time more or less as in previous movies and give him a serious undertone, it worked brilliantly, I don't think the movie was splendid, it's the people who are approaching the movie the wrong way or who simply are incapable of understanding cinematography and the artistic mature of film making, the fact that the movie is a work of art is undisputable, the acting can be challenged and so can (according to some of you anyway) Godzilla screen time, but again, dwarfed by all the overwhelming positives.

Any realism doesn't have to be the polar extreme of scientifically factual, there is this genre called sci-fi, and it deals with fictious situations that don't stray far from a not so distant possible reality. When I say "realism" I don't mean explaining how his bone structure or heart can support his body, when I praise the realism I am praising small nuances like expressions, body reactions, combat, human perspective, etc. That's the realism I am referring to. You took it to the extreme of "oh, well if we are goign to be realistic, none of this can happen anyway". That's extremely immature to say, and illogical to think that that's what I meant in the first place.

It's like some people on here would rather se the movie fall on is face but be loved but the 1% of the worlds population that are hardcore G fans, than be a blockbuster success at the expense of a few hardcore fans with largely unrealistic expectations for a movie looking for sucess in said genre, in said day and age. That thought process is both selfish, and childish in my opinion.

Today Godzilla has dropped a further 64.1% at the domestic Box office, taking $2.68 million for Tuesday 27/5, which brings the current total to $158.4 million unadjusted.  

The true litmus test of whether Godzilla has been branded "Not-recommended"  by the first wave of audiences will have to depend on this coming weekend's sales. If Godzilla takes less than $4.5 million at the Box office, it means people have been told to stay away from the movie.  

DESTROYAH-X - That's extremely interesting information you've brought to our attention. Where did you come by the $4.5 million marker? Is that a common notch in the movie industry with regards to sales and determining the success of film after it's been out for a little time? :)

@Something Real: 

When I said $4.5 million, it refers to what Godzilla should be raking in for each of this coming Saturday and Sunday. - At least $4.5 million for each day.   

I came up with this figure because typically for Blockbuster movies like: The Lego Movie, Captain America, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 etc, each of these films raked in at between the figure of $4.5 - $11 million on average daily from the 3rd weekend onwards. Do note that from the 4th weekend on, these movies are still making beyond $5 million for each Saturday/Sunday. Even the movie Neighbours took in $4.2 million and $5.1 million respectively for the 3rd weekend.

Therefore, if Godzilla is already making lesser than $4.5 million per day this 3rd weekend, its not good news. 

In the end, the public's (our) reviews of the moive do not matter in the long run.  The media outlets that reviewed the moive before the offical release are the reviews that count.  Will Gareth/ Legendary look at some big name public reviewers?  Of course, but media outlets are what count in the long run.  This is something Rob bought up in one of his video over at E.T.N.  Now some of you might not like E.T.N. or Rob, but I think he brings up a vaild argument on this.  I'm just happy we have new Godzilla moive.

*Warning, contains language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_a07RW4DMY

@Sapphireoverlord -

When you say only the reviews provided by the media outlets count as the ones that matter, that's as good as being in a state of denial. It's like listening to the radio reporting only the good news but you choose to ignore the bad. 

Don't forget that its the mass public who's ultimately paying the dollars to watch Godzilla, and without their support, Godzilla is as good as nothing. And many people out there dun give a hoot about what this Rob guy thinks. He probably catches the attention of a group of fans and that's about it. It's not like Rob paid a few million dollars to watch Godzilla that his opinion or reviews matter more than any other person out there. We all pay the same money, heck, maybe he even got a free complimentary ticket. People have their own opinions. If its they think its bad, then its bad. If its good, then its good. 

In the end, its how much money you make at the end of Godzilla's release that matters to Legendary Pictures. - The public's verdict. Media outlets that lavish praise on Godzilla are not gonna foot the box-office bill for the public isn't it? It would be a shame if eventually Godzilla 2014 opened with so much promise only to end up losing to Godzilla 98 in the domestic box-office because audiences felt cheated by Legendary's marketing.

Which is why I am looking at Godzilla's coming 3rd weekend sales as an indication if bad reviews from the public are indeed pulling it down. As a benchmark, movies like Lego the Movie, Captain America, Spider-Man 2 and Neighbours are already pulling in figures between $4.5 - $12 million per day even in the 3rd weekend. Godzilla should not be performing worse than that. 

@THE WEAVER:

DESTROYAH-X - Thank you ever so much for the reply and the information you provided! What you stated does, indeed, make sense. The LEGO Movie was fantastic! I'll definately keep in mind what you've stated. Thank you again for providing good facts! :)

@THE WEAVER

You state that Godzilla 2014 isn't for everyone, but for people "who can appreciate wondering about things that aren't "spoon-fed on the screen."

What does that mean?

Are you saying that the movie is only for people who allow their imagination to run wild.  I totally disagree!  The movie should stand on its own.  I shouldn't have to create a story in my mind.  I shouldn't have to pretend.  I shouldn't have to lose myself within my own imagination.  I should be able to watch the movie, and have all of my questions answered, without having to create my own past, present, and future.

It appears as though you are helping the movie instead of reviewing it on its own merits.

@DestoryahX

Yes its true that the moive veiwers are the ones that generate the income, but how do you get people to generate that income for the moive?  Answer, the media outlets.  Remeber back before the moive came out, and we saw the commercials that said the moive was "Terrific," and everything else?  That's the media outlets trying to get people hyped about the moive so that the income can come pouring in.  Yes, there where some that didn't like the moive, but overall the media outlets gave the moive a positive review.

So to revise what I said before, when a moive is about to be publicly released, the studios only care about the reviews that will help promote future income by the public.  The media outlets are the ones that get the attention of the fans by giving positive or negative reviews.  So in the end, our reviews don't matter before a moive is publically released. Afterwords, our reviews do matter.

Not gonna lie, but sometimes I don't always get across what I'm trying to say the first time around.

@Something Real: My pleasure. I'm not sure though if you would agree it would be considered a reasonable benchmark? :)

@SapphireOverlord: No worries, I see where you're coming from. I think Godzilla 2014 is an acceptably good movie, but just not as good as what many people were hoping for. And you know, for a movie that's aiming to reboot a franchise, they should put in their best. Something tells me Gareth Edwards is being overly cautious in this movie, and he needs to go beyond just emulating scenes brought out by other epic directors.

@Ratedrex: I think you need to forgive The Weaver for what he says, because I dun see a point debating further with him about the movie. Simply because he has immersed himself completely into the world of Gareth Edwards and his vision of the movie is already clouded by Gareth E's perspective to make any sense of what other people are telling him. He is in love.   

@DESTROYAH-X

LMAO:

So that's why I can't get through to him.  That's ok.  I'm still in love with Stan Lee.  To each his own.

can i just say that the new godzilla film was better than most of the heisei, showa, and few of the millenium? I mean it certainly doesn't beat alot of films but this was a good film i mean it has been 10 years since the last godzilla film.  I think that it was certainly in the top 10 for me, classics like the original gojira film, destroy all monsters, mothra vs godzilla 1964, the return of godzilla/85, vs biollante, vs destroyah, vs mechagodzilla 2, terror of mechagodzilla 1975, GMK, and 2000 are better than the new film at least as far as i care. :)

Update: 

Latest Box Office results for 28/5 Wednesday - Godzilla has dived a further 21.6% from Tuesday's earnings, and earn $2.1 million dollars at the US Box-Office. This brings the new current domestic total to $160.5 million. Latest foreign figures are still not in. (last update as at 25/5 was $166.6 million)

The earnings of $2.1 million in Godzilla's 13th day debut is slightly better than Spider-man 2, which took in $2 million on the 13th day. If Godzilla is able to maintain its momentum for the next two weeks, it looks set to outpace Spider-Man 2 in the US box-office, whose current total stands at $188.2 million on its 27th day debut.

Meanwhile for X-Men Days of Future Past, it is performing surprisingly well despite it being a weekday, raking in $5.8 million on its 6th day debut. This brings its US box office total to $124.5 million, which is over $12 million more than what Godzilla took for its 6th day totals.   

good, it is getting closer and closer to getting what it needs to bring in. :)

Could this film make $500, 000, 000? I sure hope so! Half a billion dollars would be a huge achievement. And it hasn't even been released in every country yet. Japan and Asia still haven't gotten it yet. Wow imagine how well it's gonna do in Japan!!! Go GODZILLA!!

Hmm. :) This film is beginning to behave much like its namesake - steadily wading through any and all opposition as makes its way unflinchinlgy toward its ultimate goal. ;)

@Deadite Kaiju - Godzilla has already been released in every country in the continent of Asia except for China, and then there's Japan. Godzilla will need to perform Exceptionally well in China if it is to make above $500 million and forget about Japan's market. Do note that X-Man DOFP has already breached the $500 million mark in just 10 days. 

Right now I'm estimating China's total contribution alone for Godzilla 2014 to hit between $120 - $140 million. Comparatively, Pacific Rim made $110 million in the Chinese market alone so this estimate is realistic, while Japan only accounts for $14 million.   

Domestically, Godzilla appears to be struggling, because its latest weekend sales is poorer compared to what other movies are making on the 16th & 17th day debut. On a positive note though, Godzilla is going to perform better than Spider-Man 2, but will still fall short of the $250M mark, and will probably close at $212 - $220 million. Combine this with a foreign box-office estimate of about $330-360 million. This is in line with my initial estimate that Godzilla is expected to earn between a modest total of $530 - $560 million. 

@DESTROYAH-X

I had a good Godzilla coming in at $800 million.  I had an OK Godzilla movie coming in at about $550.  What we got was a slightly less than ok Godzilla, which in turn leads to slightly better than ok box-office return.

I'm still convinced that a kick-ass Godzilla movie would have done $1 billion.  The opening weekend exceeded the studios' domestic prediction of $68 million.  It did $90 million (which I predicted).  The rule of thumb is: take the 1st weekend and then multiply by 3 to get the final domestic total ($270 million) and multiply by 3 again to get the final worldwide total ($810 million).  If the movie is kick-ass add another 20-25% on to that ($200 million).  So there you have it: $1 billion, reasonably reachable.  Too bad Gareth Edwards and the studios didn't see fit to make the movie that most of the movie-goers wanted to see

@RatedRex - You are a marketing person, and you tell me if what I think is true about the case of Godzilla not performing up to expectations in the box-office. You are right that this movie deserves to be better, and it could have been better. To me, they had the right Godzilla, they had the right designs, they had the right cast. Then something must be wrong - Its's the Direction of the movie. 

First off, the problem lies with the Director Gareth Edwards. Other than producing the movie 'Monsters' (which I personally think is crap btw), he has no other prior experience in directing a big-budget movie until Godzilla 2014. What do you do as a newbie Director when you run out of ideas how to make this a spectular movie? You rip off scenarios from other epic movies and the result is LOTS and LOTs of familiar stuff you see in this movie but nothing really quite original or worth remembering to call its own. Whenever one sees a particular scene in Godzilla 2014, it invokes memories of another movie and the audience thinks "Ah...I have seen this somewhere before. Nice try." - And you see, its not just influences from War of the Worlds, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Toho Godzilla 2000 etc we see here, I can still name many other movie influences. In the end, Godzilla 2014 felt like it was a cut-and-paste movie produced by a director who watched too many movies for inspiration and thought, " Ah...so if I could emulate that particular scene from each epic movie and combine them together, I get a much more epic movie." - Unfortunately, it doesn't work this way, movie-making is not 1+1 = 2. 

The next one is marketing. - The trailers were great, but when was the last time we ever saw a movie trailer that advertised something, only to completely detract from what is actually shown in the movie? I'm not talking about cut-scenes, or elusitivity here btw. Official movie trailers (not teasers) are supposed to showcase the actual events of the movie, which is the reason why people would go to watch them. We get scenes where Godzilla was seen as a stand-alone appearing to be terrorizing humans before the shelter door closes in on San Francisco, but in the movie the MUTO is injected into the scene and Godzilla was never screaming at the humans and this scene never even took place. It's like advertising a car telling people how luxurious and beautiful its features are, only to visit the showroom and you don't even get what you see. And that's misleading marketing, which is wrong and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Audiences certainly felt cheated, because unlike us folks here who knew lots about the plot through this forum, those who went in with no inkling about the plot arrived with the impression that Godzilla is that terror. - Which has all along been this way in previous Godzilla films, where the humans fear Godzilla more so than the enemies of Godzilla but not in this one. And I know that Legendary also tried to hype up the movie by announcing early that they were doing two sequels to lure more audiences to check out Godzilla 2014. And now they can't take back what they said. 

And even as I speak here, a couple of days ago Godzilla was #4 at the box-office, today its down to #6.  Sales for Friday 6/6 is at $1.7 million, Saturday 7/6 $2.5 million,  and Sunday 8/6 at $1.6 million. This brings the current US total to $185 million - Which is very bad for a weekend btw when its supposed to be making around $4 million at least for each of these days, because its much lower compared to what other movies of this scale are making on the 23rd day. Even Neighbours is making over $3 - $4 million for a 23rd day debut despite being limited with an R-rating. 

And btw Spider-Man 2 has ended its cinematic run yesterday, closing off at $194 million in the US box-office. Fortunately, the overseas market has backed up Spider-Man, so currently total combined sales stands at $694 million. I am disappointed because Godzilla 2014 has the potential to do better than Spider-Man 2 from the very start. Now, provided Godzilla doesn't plunge even further in the next 12 days, it should be able to exceed Spider-Man 2 in the box-office but will close off between $200 - $205 million.  

If there's anything I hope Legendary would change, its the change of director for the sequel. If they are sticking to Gareth Edwards, they can be sure the next movie will not make as much as this current movie even cause audiences already know what to expect from this Director. And do not use misleading marketing again please. 

@RatedRex - By the way, to add on, you will notice that Godzilla's US box-office momentum is plunging quite fast, which is not a progressive pattern. This is why it has led me to deduce that Godzilla 2014 is indeed taking a negative hit from the initial wave of audiences who have not been enthusiastic enough to recommend the movie to their friends and family. 

You do note that initially my estimate for Godzilla in US box office to close off at $250 - $270 million when it made an explosive start. However after the first week, I revised it down to $230 - $240. Towards the 2nd week, it started plunging, and I revised it down to a modest $212 - $220 million in my last post. However today, it has plunged further and I revise my estimates to $200 - $205 million even with an optimistic outlook. Godzilla has to make at least $1 million per day for the next 12 days to even hit $197 million. In other words, if Godzilla stumbles further this coming week, it may not even hit $195 million.  

@DESTROYAH-X

I'm convinced that the studios thought they had a dud.  So they misrepresented the movie with disengenuous trailers.  Then they "leaked" the airport scene to  spark buzz and anticipation.  Gareth Edwards came out and said that ToHo "loved the movie" (which I thought was pure hype when I read it, and I wrote about it here on this website).  They then embargo-ed the reviews because they thought the reviews would be poor based on what they saw.  They continued their marketing scheme by quickly announcing that there were sequels being planned, which would influence a few more movie-goers to shell out $10.

The bottom line is this:  Gareth was over his head. I said it from the beginning.  He didn't know how to put together a plot driven story with blockbuster intentions.  He wanted to make his version of Jaws. but it completely failed (in my opinion).  He didn't know how to direct terror and awe and destruction and fear.  Therefore the movie lacks passion.  When its over, you shrug and think, "is that all?"

There won't be another Godzilla until at least 2018, by that time a new director will have been picked.  I hope.

Well I think the movie was great, with some flaws of course. But I feel like the sudden crash is because of the marketing. People went in wanting to see Walter White vs. Godzilla, because that's exactly what they advertised. Every trailer was "Come see Bryan Cranston take on Godzilla!" But with Godzilla only in the 3rd act, and Bryan's character doing something else, people are like "don't watch it, the trailers lied."

I feel like Gareth did a good job in most areas, but some places really bugged me. His directing is good for a "you know it's there, but you can't see it" feeling, but for another Godzilla movie, we don't need that, we've already seen how he looks. That's why I feel that the next couple movies need a new director. That's also why I feel he shouldn't direct a Star Wars movie.

Basically I feel that the fault wasn't in Gareth's directing, completely, but that it was in how they advertised it.

Wow almost $400, 000, 000!!! And it hasn't even been released in Japan yet!!! I think this movie will get to $600, 000, 000!!!

@RatedRex - You are right. I don't feel any fear in this movie. I wonder why some reviewers actually said the MUTOs were scary when they are not. I thought Pacific Rim and Cloverfield delivered a better job than Godzilla in scaring audiences. Godzilla is too 'friendly' for his own good here. 

Just to update on the latest box office figures. Sales have plummeted a further 59% to bring in $752,000 for 9/6 Monday which is almost the same as what Neighbours brought in for a Monday despite being on its 32nd day debut compared to Godzilla's 25th. Total sales for the US box office remains slightly below $186 million. Overseas sales only brought in an extra $8 million as of 8th June, closing at $208.7 million. This brings the current grant total to $394 million. 

Comparatively, X-men Days of Future Past has already outperformed Godzilla despite opening one week later with its latest US box office figures at $191 miilion, and is also set to outpace Spider-men 2 in a couple of days in the US, which is still hanging at $196M. Foreign receipts for X-men are at a current $428 million, bringing the grand total to $619 million. 

Godzilla puilled in 10.9 mil from China today. WB's highest grossing day in China yet. Looks like it's on pace to beat Pacifc Rim's $110 mil overall in the country.

This is good news but let's hope it breaks past Pacific Rim's $110 million, as I am expecting it to make $140 - $150 million so that it can make around $550 - $570 million eventually, provided it does not fall flat after the first wave of audiences like what has happened in the US and overseas markets, where it opened with explosive results only to slump faster than expected.

Just for additional info, Godzilla's debut marks the biggest opening so far for any foreign film in China for the year 2014, beating even X-men Days of Future Past. The first day opening earnings for Godzilla puts it in the all-time position of Number 4 in the China box-office. 

The all-time top 3 biggest foreign film openings so far are: Iron-Man 3 in the 1st place, followed by Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Titanic. 

DESTROYAH-X - Thank you very much for that information! I'd no idea that Godzilla was #4 in China's box-office. Very compelling! The news concerning Godzilla's worldwide success is very inheartening! :)