At $51 million in North American box office and another $97 million from international markets (primarily Japan), Godzilla Minus One is just a few million dollars away from topping the $100 million threshold — and with delayed foreign receipt counts, it might actually top that figure before we are certain of it.
Godzilla Minus One premiered in Japan in November 2023 before hitting theaters in the U.S. in December. Despite ranking No. 8 in its final weekend in theaters, Toho requested the film's removal from all cinemas on February 1, 2024.
Why? Although never confirmed by Toho, it relates to an apparent contractual agreement between Toho, the Japanese studio that created (and still owns rights to) “Godzilla,” and Legendary Entertainment, which licensed the monster character for a series of films released by Warner Bros.
Malaysian distributor TGV Cinemas has confirmed that Toho has no plan to release the Oscar-winner Godzilla Minus One in Southeast Asia. This is also backed by another local distributor, GSC Cinemas.
Toho and Legendary Pictures' complicated rights deal may be the reason behind the delay in releasing Godzilla Minus One for home viewing. Fans may have to wait until after the release of Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire to stream or purchase Godzilla Minus One.
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Why is Godzilla Minus One not available in Asia?
That being, that Toho is reluctant to screen the film for political reasons, specifically the fact that Godzilla Minus One focuses on a WW2-era Japan, and many of us Asian countries were occupied by Japanese back during that time.
Toho International later released it in North America on December 1. The film grossed almost $116 million worldwide on an estimated $10–12 million budget, becoming the third-highest-grossing Japanese film of 2023 and surpassing Shin Godzilla as the most successful Japanese Godzilla film.
After 24 days on release, “Godzilla x Kong” has earned a cumulative $121 million (RMB862 million) in China. That figure is the highest in China for any foreign title so far in 2024. “The Boy and the Heron” dropped by 43% between its second and third weekends and recorded a $6.3 million (RMB44.
Godzilla is one of the most recognizable symbols of Japanese popular culture worldwide and remains an important facet of Japanese films, embodying the kaiju subset of the tokusatsu genre.
The low production budget of Godzilla Minus One is largely due to lower labor costs in Japan, where wages for artists and filmmakers are kept lower compared to North America. While Godzilla Minus One's low budget is impressive, it may come at the expense of the livelihoods of the artists involved.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has had a very successful opening. The movie is on its way to being a box office hit, with minimal competition throughout April.
Is Godzilla Minus One the highest grossing Godzilla movie?
The film also tops $100 million at the worldwide box office today, in a run that has shattered records and crowned the film the biggest Japanese live-action release in U.S. history, the fifth-highest grossing foreign language film in U.S. history, and the highest grossing Toho Godzilla movie of all time.
After a very successful run in theaters with its original version in full color, Godzilla MInus One has been given a remastered version in black and white. The film previously dropped in Japanese theaters and will screen in domestic theaters for one week only startin gon Jan. 26.
[This process makes it look] like it was composed by a professional still photographer. For us, removing the color in some way increases the reality, feeling almost like a documentary and making audiences feel that Godzilla actually exists.
That being said, it was recently announced that it has dropped on Amazon Prime Japan. You can potentially watch it there if you have a VPN. We'll update this with new information as it becomes available in the United States.
Godzilla Minus One became Toho's highest-grossing Godzilla movie of all time with. a global cume of $106.7 million. It is also the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film ever released in the United States, at $56.4 million.
In addition to the violent scenes and scary visual images mentioned above, Godzilla Minus One has some scenes that could scare or disturb children aged 5-8 years. For example, one time Noriko and Shikishima are fleeing Godzilla. Noriko pushes Shikishima into an alley and takes the full blast herself.
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! Godzilla, Japanese horror film, released in 1954, that was directed and cowritten by Honda Ishirō and features innovative special effects by Tsuburaya Eiji. The landmark film was a sensation at the box office and sparked a spate of “giant monster” movies.
There's plenty to get excited about with Godzilla Minus One's impressive Cinderella-story win. Inspiring global and Western audiences to actually turn up at theaters in droves to support a Toho Godzilla film, to the tune of $107 million globally, is unprecedented in the franchise's 70 years of existence.
Released worldwide last year to almost universal critical acclaim and record-setting box-office returns, Takashi Yamazaki's “Godzilla Minus One” has become the first entry in the venerable 70-year-old Godzilla franchise to win an Academy Award.
Strong reviews and praise for the movie's emotional story and VFX have helped drive interest in Godzilla Minus One. The movie's success is not dependent on a massive worldwide haul and its lower budget has allowed it to be a surprise hit in 2023.
