A few weeks ago, the thinking was that Warner Bros. was going to end its string of flops with the release of its Dr. Seuss adaptation, The Cat in the Hat. But word of mouth began to grow for Toho’s Godzilla Minus Zero, with early critics (including our own) saying it’s a bit of a monster movie masterpiece. As such, the buzz has grown to the degree that it’s stomping all over the competition, with Deadline reporting that a $30 million-plus weekend is on the books—which is similar to what we predicted earlier this week. That would be nearly three times what Godzilla Minus One opened with, and it would set a record for the highest-grossing foreign-language opener ever in North America.
The Cat in the Hat is a distant second, with it looking like it might not even cross the $20 million mark. Reviews (including ours) have been middling, although Bill Hader’s voice acting has been praised. The hope is likely that this will have legs over the upcoming holidays, although Disney’s Hexed will take a big bite out of the competition. Angel Studios’ Drummer Boy is performing solidly, with it looking at an opening north of $8 million, which would be the studio’s best opening since Young Washington this summer. A24’s You Can See Everything is holding well, dipping 32% to $7.8 million for a $78 million domestic haul. Will it top $100 million?
The Bollywood epic Ramayana, which is playing in both English-language and Hindi versions, is on track for a fifth-place finish with $6 million. It’s the biggest-budgeted movie in Indian cinema history, so how the movie performs internationally will be key. Searchlight’s terrific Wild Horse Nine is performing decently for an adult-oriented drama, with it looking at about $5–6 million for the weekend.
What are you checking out this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
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