Friday Morning Report: Warner Bros. checked in with their second confirmation of daily box office grosses as Godzilla vs. Kong tallied another $6.7 million from 2,409 locations on Thursday. With $16.3 million in the bank across its first two days, the film continues to outpace all other films released during the pandemic so far.
There are no true apples-to-apples comps as the film opened on a Wednesday and expands to 3,064 North American theaters on Friday, but the signs are clear in that it is continuing to surpass expectations. Our final weekend forecast called for a five-day bow in the $35 – 40+ million range, a target which remains likely given Thursday’s performance and the indication of strong sales throughout the weekend.
Previous forecasts were more conservative given the volatility of the market under current circumstances, but Thursday’s 30 percent decline from opening day indicates Wednesday’s initial burst wasn’t as front-loaded as fan-driven genre events tend to be.
In addition to the location count boost, Friday itself will be aided by Good Friday observances ahead of Easter Sunday. Warner Bros. notes that 76 percent of K-12 schools are out of session today, while other businesses are also closed. Friday could easily be on par with or ahead of Wednesday’s earnings, while Saturday is likely to remain generally flat with Friday business based on pre-Easter models.
The monster universe sequel previously bowed to $9.6 million on opening day Wednesday, setting a pandemic era record in the domestic market. Even with numerous restrictions still in place across the country and less than 60 percent of theaters open (including most of Canada and Regal’s venues), Godzilla vs. Kong has earned 46 percent of predecessor Godzilla: King of the Monsters‘ $35.6 million two-day start in May 2019 and 63 percent of Ready Player One‘s $26.95 million earned across Thursday and Friday during Easter weekend in 2018.
By contrast, the previous tentpole film released during the pandemic — December’s Wonder Woman 1984 — achieved just 16 percent of its 2017 predecessor’s three-day opening. That film, like Godzilla vs. Kong, bowed day-and-date in theaters and streaming for free to HBO Max subscribers.
Simply put, these numbers indicate a significant turning point in the rise of consumer confidence to return to movie theaters. The accelerated distribution of vaccines and reopening of key markets like California and New York City have played significant roles in the upward trend.
The studio highlighted demographic splits that broke out to 63 percent male, 52 percent over the age of 25, and 72 percent under the age of 35 on opening day. The film is playing diversely and particularly strong in large format theaters like IMAX where social distancing is easily accommodated. Word of mouth also appears to be flourishing early on with 95 percent audience and 79 percent critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warner Bros. has confirmed that they will provide another direct studio update on domestic box office come Saturday morning.
The post <em>Godzilla vs. Kong</em> Adds $6.7M on Thursday, Reaching Pandemic Era-Best $16.3M 2-Day Domestic Haul appeared first on Boxoffice.
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