Box Office Results: Godzilla Holds, Ebenezer Opens
The latest box office results bring a clear test for the biggest surprise hit of the month. Godzilla Minus Zero is facing its first real box office test in its second weekend. After a record-breaking opening weekend, the film earned an estimated $2.1-2.4 million on its second Friday in US theaters, and the current estimate for its second weekend is about $8 million. If that holds, its total in the US and Canada would reach about $48.5 million by Sunday, after ten days in theaters. In its first week it earned $40.5 million in the US and Canada, a figure that already put it far ahead of where most foreign-language films ever reach in North America. The second weekend is the moment when an opening weekend’s excitement is measured against staying power, and for Godzilla Minus Zero, the early numbers suggest the film is holding.
The opening weekend itself set a record that is worth restating in full, because it explains why the second weekend matters so much. Opening weekend, November 6-8, brought in $30.6 million in actuals, $31.6 million in Sunday estimates, from 3,254 theaters. That was the biggest opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film in North America, beating the previous record held by the 2004 wuxia epic Hero, which opened to $17.8 million. The gap between the two records is large: Godzilla Minus Zero opened to nearly double the previous record holder. Its global opening was around $63 million. The film did not simply open well for a foreign-language film. It opened well by any standard, and it did so from 3,254 theaters, a wide release that gave audiences across the US and Canada a chance to see it on its first weekend.
The role of IMAX in that opening is one of the most striking parts of the story. IMAX contributed $12.7 million domestically, roughly 40 percent of the opening, from just 429 screens, and $21.3 million from IMAX globally. To put that in perspective, 429 screens produced roughly 40 percent of a $30.6 million domestic opening. That is an unusually high share for a single format, and it points to the way audiences chose to see this film. The film is the first Japanese production ever filmed for IMAX, and that distinction was part of its appeal. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, it is a film made to be seen large, and audiences responded by seeking out the largest screens available. The IMAX share is not a footnote to the opening. It is central to understanding how the opening happened, and it will be central to understanding the second weekend as well, because a film that draws heavily on premium screens can behave differently in its second weekend from a film that opens broadly on standard screens.
The film’s reception has matched its commercial performance. It has a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and an “A” CinemaScore. A 90 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A” CinemaScore together signal that both critics and audiences responded strongly, and that combination is often a sign of a film that can hold well beyond its opening weekend. The second Friday estimate of $2.1-2.4 million, and the second weekend estimate of about $8 million, need to be read in that light. A film with that level of audience satisfaction has a reason to hold, and the question for the second weekend is how much of the opening audience returns, how much word of mouth brings in new viewers, and how much of the opening was driven by the first-weekend rush that always fades. The current estimate points to a total of about $48.5 million in the US and Canada by Sunday, after ten days in theaters, which would mean the film added roughly $8 million in its second weekend to the $40.5 million it earned in its first week.
Box office results: the follow-up to a 2023 hit
Godzilla Minus Zero is the follow-up to 2023’s Godzilla Minus One, and the comparison between the two films is part of the story. Godzilla Minus One opened to $11.4 million and reached $57 million in North America and $113 million globally. Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $30.6 million in actuals, nearly three times the opening of its predecessor, and it has already earned $40.5 million in the US and Canada in its first week alone. If the second weekend estimate of about $8 million holds, and the total reaches about $48.5 million by Sunday, the film will be within reach of the $57 million North American total of Godzilla Minus One after only ten days in theaters. That comparison shows how much the audience for this series has grown, and how much the first film’s success laid the groundwork for the second film’s record opening.
The film is distributed in North America by GKIDS and produced by Toho. Those two names matter because they explain the release. Toho is the Japanese studio behind Godzilla, and GKIDS is the North American distributor that brought the film to 3,254 theaters. A wide release of that size, for a live-action foreign-language film, is itself notable, and it reflects the confidence that the distributor and the studio had in the film after the success of Godzilla Minus One. The first film opened to $11.4 million and reached $57 million in North America. The second film opened to $30.6 million. The growth from one film to the next is the story of a series that found a much larger audience in North America, and the second weekend will show whether that audience is still growing or whether the opening captured most of it at once.
The day-by-day pattern after the opening weekend adds detail to the picture. Monday after opening weekend, the film added $2.1 million, bringing the total to $32.7 million. That Monday figure, $2.1 million, is the same range as the second Friday estimate of $2.1-2.4 million, and it shows the film earning steadily through its first week. In its first week it earned $40.5 million in the US and Canada, which means that after the $30.6 million opening weekend, it added about $10 million across the weekdays that followed. That weekday performance, followed by a second weekend estimate of about $8 million, is the shape of a film that opened big and is now settling into a second weekend that will determine its final total. The second weekend is the first real test because it is the first weekend without the novelty of opening weekend, and it is the first weekend when the film faces new competition.
New movies: Ebenezer opens with Johnny Depp as Scrooge
New films opening Friday, November 13, include Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, Ti West’s darker take on Dickens starring Johnny Depp as Scrooge with Ian McKellen, rated PG-13. The film is a new version of a familiar story, and it arrives with a notable cast and a notable director. Ti West is directing a darker take on Dickens, Johnny Depp is playing Scrooge, and Ian McKellen is also in the cast. The film is rated PG-13, which places it in the middle of the ratings range, open to teenagers and adults but not aimed at the youngest audiences. Its arrival on Friday, November 13, puts it directly into competition with Godzilla Minus Zero in its second weekend, and its performance will be one of the key numbers in the next set of box office results.
Boxoffice Pro’s long-range forecast for Ebenezer was $25 million to $35 million. That forecast is a range, not a single number, and it reflects the uncertainty around any opening weekend. A forecast of $25 million to $35 million would, if it holds, put Ebenezer in the range of a solid opening, and it would make it a significant new release in a weekend otherwise dominated by a second-weekend holdover. The forecast was made as a long-range projection, which means it was set before the final days of tracking and before the film opened. How the film actually performs against that $25 million to $35 million range will be one of the main stories of the weekend, alongside the Godzilla Minus Zero second-weekend total. Also opening Friday, November 13, is How to Rob a Bank, another new film joining the weekend’s lineup.
The contrast between the two new films and the holdover is part of what makes this weekend interesting. Godzilla Minus Zero is a second-weekend film with a record opening behind it, a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, an “A” CinemaScore, and an estimated $8 million second weekend that would bring it to about $48.5 million in ten days. Ebenezer is a new opening with a $25 million to $35 million long-range forecast, a well-known story, and a cast led by Johnny Depp as Scrooge with Ian McKellen. How to Rob a Bank is also new. The weekend’s box office results will show how audiences split their attention between a proven hit in its second weekend and new films opening on Friday. The second Friday estimate for Godzilla Minus Zero, $2.1-2.4 million, is already a clue: it shows the holdover earning on the same day the new films opened, and it sets up the second weekend estimate of about $8 million.
The rest of last weekend’s chart
The rest of last weekend’s chart, the November 6-8 weekend, shows the context in which Godzilla Minus Zero opened. Warner Bros.’ animated The Cat in the Hat finished second with an estimated $20.5 million, well below the $30 million to $50 million prerelease tracking. That gap between tracking and reality is significant. Prerelease tracking had put The Cat in the Hat at $30 million to $50 million, and it finished second with an estimated $20.5 million, well below that range. The film still finished second, and $20.5 million is a substantial opening for an animated film, but the comparison with tracking shows that expectations were higher than the result. In a weekend when Godzilla Minus Zero exceeded expectations with a record opening, The Cat in the Hat fell short of its prerelease tracking, and that contrast is part of the weekend’s story.
Angel Studios’ Drummer Boy took $9.3 million. That figure placed it further down the chart, and it completes the picture of the top of the November 6-8 weekend: Godzilla Minus Zero at $30.6 million in actuals, The Cat in the Hat at an estimated $20.5 million in second, and Drummer Boy at $9.3 million. The overall November 6-8 weekend grossed about $121.7 million domestically, up nearly 40 percent on the same weekend in 2025. A weekend total of about $121.7 million, up nearly 40 percent on the same weekend in 2025, is a strong result, and it shows that the weekend as a whole was up sharply year on year. The growth was driven by the record opening of Godzilla Minus Zero, but it also reflects a weekend in which multiple films drew audiences at the same time.
The year-to-date picture is even stronger. The domestic box office has taken in $8.62 billion so far in 2026, 20.6 percent higher than at this point in 2025, tracking its best year since 2019. That is a substantial year-on-year increase, and the phrase “tracking its best year since 2019” places 2026 in the context of the years since the pandemic disrupted cinema. A total of $8.62 billion so far in 2026, up 20.6 percent on the same point in 2025, is a measure of a recovery that has now become a strong year in its own right. The fourth-quarter box office stands at $763 million, up 37 percent over last year, which shows that the strength is not only a year-to-date story but a current one, with the final quarter of the year running well ahead of the same period last year.
What the numbers mean for the weeks ahead
The next major release is The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping on November 20. That date is one week after the November 13 openings of Ebenezer and How to Rob a Bank, and it sets up the next big test for the box office. Until November 20, the films in theaters now, including Godzilla Minus Zero in its second weekend and Ebenezer in its opening weekend, will have a week to establish their totals before the next major release arrives. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is the next major release on the calendar, and its arrival on November 20 will reset the chart in the way that a major franchise release always does.
For Godzilla Minus Zero, the weeks ahead will be shaped by the second weekend. If the estimate of about $8 million holds, and the total reaches about $48.5 million by Sunday after ten days, the film will be on a path to pass the $57 million North American total of Godzilla Minus One, which opened to $11.4 million and reached $57 million in North America and $113 million globally. The comparison is not yet complete, because the second film has only been in theaters for ten days, but the trajectory is clear: a $30.6 million opening, $40.5 million in the first week, a Monday addition of $2.1 million bringing the total to $32.7 million, and now a second weekend estimate of about $8 million. Each of those numbers builds on the last, and together they describe a film that opened at record levels and is now being tested for staying power.
For Ebenezer, the weeks ahead will be shaped by how it performs against its $25 million to $35 million long-range forecast. The film is Ti West’s darker take on Dickens, starring Johnny Depp as Scrooge with Ian McKellen, rated PG-13, and it opened on Friday, November 13. Its opening weekend will be measured against that forecast, and its second weekend will be measured against its opening, in the same way that Godzilla Minus Zero is now being measured. The two films are at different stages, one in its second weekend and one in its first, but the questions are the same: how many people came, how many will return, and how far will word of mouth carry it.
The broader picture, in the box office results for 2026 so far, is one of growth. The domestic box office has taken in $8.62 billion so far in 2026, 20.6 percent higher than at this point in 2025, tracking its best year since 2019. The fourth quarter stands at $763 million, up 37 percent over last year. The November 6-8 weekend grossed about $121.7 million domestically, up nearly 40 percent on the same weekend in 2025. Those are year-on-year gains at every level: the weekend, the quarter, and the year to date. Within that growth, the individual stories stand out: a record opening for a live-action foreign-language film, an IMAX share of roughly 40 percent from just 429 screens, a second-place finish well below tracking for The Cat in the Hat, a $9.3 million opening for Drummer Boy, and a new Christmas film opening with a $25 million to $35 million forecast. The next set of box office results will show how the second weekend of Godzilla Minus Zero and the opening weekend of Ebenezer fit into that larger story, and whether the strong year for the domestic box office continues into the weeks before The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping arrives on November 20.
Source: Deadline