Godzilla vs. King Kong Roars to $20+ Million Opening Day in China

With international markets catching their first glimpse at Godzilla vs. Kong before it opens domestically and on HBO Max, the long-awaited bout has proven to be a major success in China, with its opening day at the box office earning it $21.5 million, per The Hollywood Reporter. These numbers put it slightly ahead of the opening day for the last film in the series, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which took in $20.9 million on its opening day back in 2019. While it would make sense that the crossover between the beloved characters would result in higher earnings, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still likely stifling the sequel’s potential overseas.

The box office forecast for the film in all of its international markets might not be quite what was anticipated when the project was announced, but recent reports note that Godzilla vs. Kong could have the best opening since the start of the pandemic early last year. In addition to China, the film also opens in almost 40 foreign markets, including Taiwan, Mexico, India, Russia, and South Korea. Previously, Tenet marked the biggest international box office opening of the pandemic, taking in $53 million late last summer.

This isn’t the first time the two monsters have battled with one another, having previously faced off in 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla. However, the scope of that movie pales in comparison to the carnage we can expect in the current “MonsterVerse,” which kicked off back in 2014 with Godzilla, only to be followed by Kong: Skull Island in 2017 and then King of the Monsters.

Director Adam Wingard previously detailed his approach to the combat and how it would honor the scale of the beasts.

“I think that’s something that we’re always aware of is trying to maintain the scale because we wanted the monster fights to be super fast-paced and intense,” Wingard explained to ComicBook.com. “A lot of times, when you’re trying to depict the scale of monsters or something that’s over 300 feet tall, a lot of times you end up having to, especially when you’re at a lower angle, slow them down so that they appear to be bigger. We knew that we wanted our action to be so fast-paced that that wasn’t going to be an option for us. And, so, what we ended up doing is we got the VFX supervisor, DJ, he’s a really clever guy, and we came up with this idea that we’re gonna slow down all the things around the monsters, like smoke, and falling debris, all the things that give it that actual scale, but we’re going to keep the monsters moving fast. What it ends up doing is it kind of creates almost like a modern stop-motion effect. It’s not as jarring as that, but my hope is that it has its own quality that you’re not used to seeing in other films.”

Godzilla vs. Kong hits theaters domestically and HBO Max on March 31st.