Arts & Entertainment

“Godzilla vs. Kong” revives US box office with biggest pandemic screening

Los Angeles, Apr 5 (efe-epa).- “Godzilla vs. Kong” has been reviving US and Canadian box offices over the Holy Week holidays, racking up the biggest ticket sales so far during the coronavirus pandemic.

According to figures from the specialized Box Office Mojo Web site, the Warner Bros. superproduction raked in $48.5 million in the domestic market, which means the US and Canada, in recent days.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” hit movie houses last Wednesday, March 31, and reigned supreme at North American box offices over the long holiday weekend.

In comparison, “Godzilla vs. Kong” in just five days in the US and Canada brought in more than “Wonder Woman 1984” has since its original screening in December, with that film starring Gal Gadot collecting $46 million in all.

Another example of the superb performance of the Godzilla and King Kong flick is the fact that “Tenet,” Christopher Nolan’s latest film, has only taken in $58 million in the US since it was released last summer.

The performance of “Godzilla vs. Kong” is significant since this film featuring two of the movie world’s most famous monsters has been placed simultaneously both in movie houses and on the HBO Max online platform, the same strategy that was used for “Wonder Woman 1984” although “Tenet” was available for viewing only on the big screen.

However, and providing the margin for success among the public, the monster movie has clearly benefitted from the recent reopening of theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, the favorable evolution of the pandemic in the US and the progress in the US vaccination campaign against the coronavirus.

“Godzilla vs. Kong” has also become a global box office phenomenon given that worldwide it has brought in $285.4 million so far.

The film, directed by Adam Wingard, is the culmination of the so-called MonsterVerse, a saga brought to fruition by Warner Bros. and Legendary that has combined in Hollywood the Japan’s “kaiju” monster-flick genre with the stories of King Kong, as depicted in such popular films as “Kong: Skull Island” (2017).

“Godzilla vs. Kong” stars Demian Bichir, Eiza Gonzalez, Millie Bobby Brown, Alexander Skarsgard, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry.

The success of the film also lends support to the risky scenario looming before Warner Bros. this year.

In contrast to the rest of the Hollywood studios, which mostly have opted to re-release their most important showings or send them directly to the digital market, Warner Bros. will present its entire 2021 list of offerings in movie houses and on the HBO Max platform simultaneously.

This decision will enable theaters to offer new films in 2021 after months of a ruinous business climate during which classic films were repositioned and independent films were launched, a strategy much criticized by respected figures in the film industry such as Christopher Nolan and Denis Villenueve.

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