Toho’s Godzilla Minus Zero is shaping up as a rare event: a non-English-language film that may lead the North American box office. Tracking services project a $30–35 million domestic opening, more than tripling the $11.4 million start of 2023’s Godzilla Minus One.
If those numbers hold, the sequel would become only the fourth non-English film to take No. 1 in US box office history. The previous cases stretch across two decades: Mel Gibson’s Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew The Passion of the Christ at $83.8 million in 2004, Zhang Yimou’s Mandarin-language Hero at $18 million later that year, and Sony/Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle at $70.6 million in September 2025.
Why the sequel has a higher ceiling
The original was a word-of-mouth hit, finishing with $57.1 million in the US and Canada and becoming the first Godzilla film to win an Oscar. The sequel adds Imax screens, a 91% Rotten Tomatoes score and a clear early-December corridor before bigger studio competition arrives.
The real test is not opening night. The first weekend will be driven largely by fans of Minus One. Breakout sequel status depends on whether new viewers use the current Minus One availability on Prime Video to catch up, then buy a ticket.
Weekend projections to watch
- Godzilla Minus Zero: $30–35 million domestic opening
- The Cat in the Hat: $20–22 million against a reported $100 million budget
- Ramayana: Rise of a Legend: $6–10 million four-day from 1,300 North American locations
- Wild Horse Nine: $7 million from roughly 1,000 locations
For Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, The Cat in the Hat is an early test of its reborn theatrical animation slate under Skydance’s consolidation. A family film can hold through Thanksgiving against Disney’s Hexed, but a reported $100 million budget leaves little room for a soft opening.
Sony’s Ramayana: Rise of a Legend has a more modest US ambition. The film is part of a reported $420 million two-part Indian production and is the first Indian film with the Filmed for Imax label. Its North American run will be compared with the $28.1 million total of earlier Hindi release Dhurandhar: The Revenge.
What this means for the screen business
The Godzilla number extends a pattern set by Demon Slayer and Squid Game: mainstream audiences are increasingly willing to buy tickets for subtitled or dubbed non-English entertainment. For buyers and planners, that means global titles can be scheduled like event releases, especially when a streaming catalogue title serves as a low-risk entry point.
The two-week window before Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping gives Godzilla Minus Zero a clear run. The opening will show how large the fan base has grown; the second weekend will reveal whether it converted newcomers.
Source: TheWrap
