In what can only be seen as an encouraging sign for the state of movie theaters, Godzilla vs. Kong topped the domestic box office this weekend, pulling in an impressive $32 million. That makes a five-day total of $48.5 million for the monster mash-up, which Variety points out is a “pandemic-era” box office record.
The surprising debut is all the more eye-popping when factoring in the fact that Godzilla vs. Kong was also available to watch on HBO Max, with subscribers not required to pay an extra fee to access the film. That audiences were willing to venture out into the world and shell out real money to watch the film in theaters rather than in the comfort of their own homes should help calm the nerves of an industry on edge about its future.
To put Godzilla vs. Kong’s big weekend into perspective—Wonder Woman 1984 previously had the biggest three-day debut since the pandemic hit with $16.7 million. But with the country’s continued successful vaccine rollout, moviegoers seem ready to get back into theaters. And while it may be some time before we see pre-pandemic numbers at the box office, Godzilla vs. Kong’s stellar showing bodes well for studios hoping to make a splash this summer.
Take for instance Disney, which recently announced that Black Widow will finally hit theaters on July 9. Yes, the studio is also releasing the latest MCU offering on Disney+, but based on what we saw this weekend, it looks like audiences will be more than willing to watch Natasha Maximoff kick ass under the dimmed lights of their local theaters, as well.
The glossy numbers are also a major win for Warner Bros., which received heavy criticism for deciding to drop its entire 2021 slate on HBO Max as well as in theaters. It’s proof that when it comes to Hollywood’s major tentpoles, there’s nothing quite like the traditional moviegoing experience, a sentiment echoed by Jeff Bock, a media analyst at Exhibitor Relations.
“This is a great sign that the release calendar will stabilize and audiences everywhere will have a bona fide summer of blockbusters,” he told Variety. “With vaccinations being dished out at a record pace and social distancing protocols still in place, we should see a nice ramp up into summer cinema.”
