Godzilla Box Office Updates

@DESTROYAH-X

I had a good Godzilla coming in at $800 million.  I had an OK Godzilla movie coming in at about $550.  What we got was a slightly less than ok Godzilla, which in turn leads to slightly better than ok box-office return.

I'm still convinced that a kick-ass Godzilla movie would have done $1 billion.  The opening weekend exceeded the studios' domestic prediction of $68 million.  It did $90 million (which I predicted).  The rule of thumb is: take the 1st weekend and then multiply by 3 to get the final domestic total ($270 million) and multiply by 3 again to get the final worldwide total ($810 million).  If the movie is kick-ass add another 20-25% on to that ($200 million).  So there you have it: $1 billion, reasonably reachable.  Too bad Gareth Edwards and the studios didn't see fit to make the movie that most of the movie-goers wanted to see

@RatedRex - You are a marketing person, and you tell me if what I think is true about the case of Godzilla not performing up to expectations in the box-office. You are right that this movie deserves to be better, and it could have been better. To me, they had the right Godzilla, they had the right designs, they had the right cast. Then something must be wrong - Its's the Direction of the movie. 

First off, the problem lies with the Director Gareth Edwards. Other than producing the movie 'Monsters' (which I personally think is crap btw), he has no other prior experience in directing a big-budget movie until Godzilla 2014. What do you do as a newbie Director when you run out of ideas how to make this a spectular movie? You rip off scenarios from other epic movies and the result is LOTS and LOTs of familiar stuff you see in this movie but nothing really quite original or worth remembering to call its own. Whenever one sees a particular scene in Godzilla 2014, it invokes memories of another movie and the audience thinks "Ah...I have seen this somewhere before. Nice try." - And you see, its not just influences from War of the Worlds, Jaws, Jurassic Park, Toho Godzilla 2000 etc we see here, I can still name many other movie influences. In the end, Godzilla 2014 felt like it was a cut-and-paste movie produced by a director who watched too many movies for inspiration and thought, " Ah...so if I could emulate that particular scene from each epic movie and combine them together, I get a much more epic movie." - Unfortunately, it doesn't work this way, movie-making is not 1+1 = 2. 

The next one is marketing. - The trailers were great, but when was the last time we ever saw a movie trailer that advertised something, only to completely detract from what is actually shown in the movie? I'm not talking about cut-scenes, or elusitivity here btw. Official movie trailers (not teasers) are supposed to showcase the actual events of the movie, which is the reason why people would go to watch them. We get scenes where Godzilla was seen as a stand-alone appearing to be terrorizing humans before the shelter door closes in on San Francisco, but in the movie the MUTO is injected into the scene and Godzilla was never screaming at the humans and this scene never even took place. It's like advertising a car telling people how luxurious and beautiful its features are, only to visit the showroom and you don't even get what you see. And that's misleading marketing, which is wrong and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Audiences certainly felt cheated, because unlike us folks here who knew lots about the plot through this forum, those who went in with no inkling about the plot arrived with the impression that Godzilla is that terror. - Which has all along been this way in previous Godzilla films, where the humans fear Godzilla more so than the enemies of Godzilla but not in this one. And I know that Legendary also tried to hype up the movie by announcing early that they were doing two sequels to lure more audiences to check out Godzilla 2014. And now they can't take back what they said. 

And even as I speak here, a couple of days ago Godzilla was #4 at the box-office, today its down to #6.  Sales for Friday 6/6 is at $1.7 million, Saturday 7/6 $2.5 million,  and Sunday 8/6 at $1.6 million. This brings the current US total to $185 million - Which is very bad for a weekend btw when its supposed to be making around $4 million at least for each of these days, because its much lower compared to what other movies of this scale are making on the 23rd day. Even Neighbours is making over $3 - $4 million for a 23rd day debut despite being limited with an R-rating. 

And btw Spider-Man 2 has ended its cinematic run yesterday, closing off at $194 million in the US box-office. Fortunately, the overseas market has backed up Spider-Man, so currently total combined sales stands at $694 million. I am disappointed because Godzilla 2014 has the potential to do better than Spider-Man 2 from the very start. Now, provided Godzilla doesn't plunge even further in the next 12 days, it should be able to exceed Spider-Man 2 in the box-office but will close off between $200 - $205 million.  

If there's anything I hope Legendary would change, its the change of director for the sequel. If they are sticking to Gareth Edwards, they can be sure the next movie will not make as much as this current movie even cause audiences already know what to expect from this Director. And do not use misleading marketing again please. 

@RatedRex - By the way, to add on, you will notice that Godzilla's US box-office momentum is plunging quite fast, which is not a progressive pattern. This is why it has led me to deduce that Godzilla 2014 is indeed taking a negative hit from the initial wave of audiences who have not been enthusiastic enough to recommend the movie to their friends and family. 

You do note that initially my estimate for Godzilla in US box office to close off at $250 - $270 million when it made an explosive start. However after the first week, I revised it down to $230 - $240. Towards the 2nd week, it started plunging, and I revised it down to a modest $212 - $220 million in my last post. However today, it has plunged further and I revise my estimates to $200 - $205 million even with an optimistic outlook. Godzilla has to make at least $1 million per day for the next 12 days to even hit $197 million. In other words, if Godzilla stumbles further this coming week, it may not even hit $195 million.  

@DESTROYAH-X

I'm convinced that the studios thought they had a dud.  So they misrepresented the movie with disengenuous trailers.  Then they "leaked" the airport scene to  spark buzz and anticipation.  Gareth Edwards came out and said that ToHo "loved the movie" (which I thought was pure hype when I read it, and I wrote about it here on this website).  They then embargo-ed the reviews because they thought the reviews would be poor based on what they saw.  They continued their marketing scheme by quickly announcing that there were sequels being planned, which would influence a few more movie-goers to shell out $10.

The bottom line is this:  Gareth was over his head. I said it from the beginning.  He didn't know how to put together a plot driven story with blockbuster intentions.  He wanted to make his version of Jaws. but it completely failed (in my opinion).  He didn't know how to direct terror and awe and destruction and fear.  Therefore the movie lacks passion.  When its over, you shrug and think, "is that all?"

There won't be another Godzilla until at least 2018, by that time a new director will have been picked.  I hope.

Well I think the movie was great, with some flaws of course. But I feel like the sudden crash is because of the marketing. People went in wanting to see Walter White vs. Godzilla, because that's exactly what they advertised. Every trailer was "Come see Bryan Cranston take on Godzilla!" But with Godzilla only in the 3rd act, and Bryan's character doing something else, people are like "don't watch it, the trailers lied."

I feel like Gareth did a good job in most areas, but some places really bugged me. His directing is good for a "you know it's there, but you can't see it" feeling, but for another Godzilla movie, we don't need that, we've already seen how he looks. That's why I feel that the next couple movies need a new director. That's also why I feel he shouldn't direct a Star Wars movie.

Basically I feel that the fault wasn't in Gareth's directing, completely, but that it was in how they advertised it.

Wow almost $400, 000, 000!!! And it hasn't even been released in Japan yet!!! I think this movie will get to $600, 000, 000!!!

@RatedRex - You are right. I don't feel any fear in this movie. I wonder why some reviewers actually said the MUTOs were scary when they are not. I thought Pacific Rim and Cloverfield delivered a better job than Godzilla in scaring audiences. Godzilla is too 'friendly' for his own good here. 

Just to update on the latest box office figures. Sales have plummeted a further 59% to bring in $752,000 for 9/6 Monday which is almost the same as what Neighbours brought in for a Monday despite being on its 32nd day debut compared to Godzilla's 25th. Total sales for the US box office remains slightly below $186 million. Overseas sales only brought in an extra $8 million as of 8th June, closing at $208.7 million. This brings the current grant total to $394 million. 

Comparatively, X-men Days of Future Past has already outperformed Godzilla despite opening one week later with its latest US box office figures at $191 miilion, and is also set to outpace Spider-men 2 in a couple of days in the US, which is still hanging at $196M. Foreign receipts for X-men are at a current $428 million, bringing the grand total to $619 million. 

Godzilla puilled in 10.9 mil from China today. WB's highest grossing day in China yet. Looks like it's on pace to beat Pacifc Rim's $110 mil overall in the country.

This is good news but let's hope it breaks past Pacific Rim's $110 million, as I am expecting it to make $140 - $150 million so that it can make around $550 - $570 million eventually, provided it does not fall flat after the first wave of audiences like what has happened in the US and overseas markets, where it opened with explosive results only to slump faster than expected.

Just for additional info, Godzilla's debut marks the biggest opening so far for any foreign film in China for the year 2014, beating even X-men Days of Future Past. The first day opening earnings for Godzilla puts it in the all-time position of Number 4 in the China box-office. 

The all-time top 3 biggest foreign film openings so far are: Iron-Man 3 in the 1st place, followed by Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and Titanic. 

DESTROYAH-X - Thank you very much for that information! I'd no idea that Godzilla was #4 in China's box-office. Very compelling! The news concerning Godzilla's worldwide success is very inheartening! :)

@Something Real : You are welcome :)

Update: Meanwhile, as of today current sales for the US-Box office stands at $191 million, and new overseas figures just came in, and stands at $248.3 million. This brings the grand total to $439.3 million. 

Latest Box-Office Update: 

In the US Box-Office, Godzilla 2014 has been pushed out of the top 10 list, currently sitting at #19 domestically with 352 screenings remaining. Surprisingly both the Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Neighbors managed to edge out Godzilla at the box-office to end at #17 and #18 this weekend respectively, despite being out longer and with lesser screenings. 

This brings Godzilla's US total now to $197.9 million. Total combined sales now stands at $488.9 million, up from $488.7m. 

When will we learn the haul Godzilla got in Japan?

@duratok,

it just arrived in japan the other day so no word on that as of now. :(

Latest update:

It appears that sales of Godzilla in US theatres have ended. Total domestic takings are $198.1 million. The last recorded earning was $48K and Godzilla has plunged further to #20 at the box-office, below old titles like Rio 2 and Madagascar. 

It could also mean that WB has stopped providing updates for its daily sales, since sales for the last 2 weeks have been pretty much stagnated. 

Worlwide sales remains at $291.5M, bringing the total combined sales to $489.6 million. 

DestroyahX- You are actually very wrong. I just saw Godzilla yesterday.

Latest update: 

Godzilla is now further down to #23 at the Box-office. It made a total of $237k over the Fri-Sat. This brings the US total to $198.3m. Latest foreign box-office update is now $292,000. The combined total stands $490.3 million. 

From SciFiJapan.com -

"Recent projections that GODZILLA would struggle to hit $200 million have proven true and — barring any last-minute promotions by Warner Bros. — it will likely become the first film ever to debut over $90 million but fail to reach $200 million by the end of its run.

Internationally, GODZILLA added another $500,000 over the past week. Japan is the only major territory where the film has yet to open; Toho will release GODZILLA there on July 25th. Expectations are that the new movie will surpass the $33 million Japanese take for the poorly-received 1998 Sony Pictures’ remake, which would push GODZILLA well past $300 million internationally and $500 million worldwide."

Let's not count the chickens before they hatch. Remember what happened in the US? Everyone was saying G14 could easily beat G98's $231m domestic. So let's see what happens in Japan by then.

Saw it for the third time at an art-house theater this past Monday, got me a $4 ticket and a beer and a couple of slices of pizza.  The theater had about 100 people in it, not bad.  I could tell from what they were saying that a few of them had held out for a reduced ticket price after the not-so-tremendous word of mouth.  But the interest was still there.

Godzilla is still a draw.  They just gotta figure out what audiences really want out of him.