Japanese film Godzilla Minus Zero has roared to the top of the global box office this weekend, despite not being released in South Asia, where Ramayana’s IMAX dominance pushed it back. Yet the creature feature steamrolled the Indian epic in North America.
Ramayana, which has released internationally as Ramayana: Rise of a Legend, was in the fifth spot despite getting the widest release in the US for any Indian film. It pushed Cat in the Hat to the second spot. Godzilla Minus Zero was the top film at the North American box office over the weekend, earning $31.6 million between Friday and Sunday, according to industry estimates. The Nitesh Tiwari film earned $8.7 million between Friday and Sunday, and $12.2 million during its extended opening weekend. In like-for-like terms, Godzilla Minus Zero was able to out-earn it by a staggering 260% in the US.
This is despite the fact that the Japanese film was made on a budget of just $19 million, a mere 9% of Ramayana’s reported landing cost of around $210 million. The Japanese film earned $63 million in its opening weekend worldwide. Ramayana, meanwhile, earned around $55 million (roughly ₹ 500 crore) during its 4-day opening weekend. Over $30 million of these ( ₹ 290 crore gross) came from India, its home market. Set in 1949, as postwar Japan looks to rebuild, the film sees a new threat emerge: a giant, three-headed, dragon-like monster called King Ghidorah. Enter Godzilla — believed defeated in the 2023 Godzilla Minus One, but radioactively regenerated — who takes on the three-headed beast with at least some human assistance.
Godzilla Minus Zero dominated globally as well, but Ramayana was able to bridge the gap due to a solid performance in India. The film is distributed globally by Sony Pictures.
