‘Godzilla’ is king of the box office
Monster beats ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Rocketman’ in debut.
NEW YORK – The latest iteration of the Godzilla franchise took over the top spot from “Aladdin” and roared louder than Elton John at the weekend box office, but it still left a smaller footprint than its city-wrecking predecessors.
“Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” the sequel to 2014’s “Godzilla,” was brought down to size by poor reviews and middling interest from moviegoers, selling $49 million in tickets, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
While still good enough for No. 1, that total was $10 million to $15 million less than industry expectations and close to half of the $93 million debut of the previous “Godzilla” movie.
Still, the weekend, led by the classic movie monster, brought Hollywood’s summer season into full swing. Last week’s top film, Disney’s live-action,
Will Smith “Aladdin” remake, slid to second with $42 million. And a rush of newcomers, including the Elton John biopic “Rocketman” and the Octavia Spencer-led horror film “Ma,” swelled theaters with a variety of options.
Dexter Fletcher’s fantastical Elton John biopic “Rocketman,” starring Taron Egerton, didn’t launch with the same bravado as last year’s Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” But it opened solidly in third with $25 million. The weekend’s most profitable release, by percentage, was likely the Blumhouse thriller “Ma,” which made $18.2 million against a $5 million budget and finished fourth.
The latest installment in the Keanu Reeves’ assassin franchise, “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” rounded out the top five in its third week with $11.1 million.
In “Godzilla,” some see a flagging franchise of unrealized potential. In its three recent blockbuster iterations going back to Gareth Edwards’ 1998 release, none have drawn much praise from fans or critics. This latest one, directed by Michael Dougherty, has a 40% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
A faceoff movie is in the works between Godzilla and King Kong, who was last featured in “Kong: Skull Island.” That 2017 release went on to make $566 million worldwide. Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros., believes “King of the Monsters” can keep drawing moviegoers to the ongoing monster franchise.
Coming off its acclaimed premiere at Cannes Film Festival, “Rocketman,” which Elton John executive produced, opened well if not spectacularly. The Rrated film cost about $40 million to make.
“The best news this weekend was for the industry itself,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “Even if the top movie didn’t earn $100 million, we had a big up weekend, and we need more of those to get out of this deficit that we’ve been in since basically the beginning of the year.”