‘Godzilla x Kong,’ Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ dominate weekend box office
By Bryan Ke
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” maintained its No. 1 spot at the weekend box office last week, while Dev Patel’s directorial film debut “Monkey Man” debuted at No. 2.
Key points:
- “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” earned $31.7 million from 3,948 theaters at last week’s weekend box office.
- Patel’s critically acclaimed film “Monkey Man,” which he directed and stars in, opened in 3,029 theaters on Friday to a strong tune of $10.1 million.
The details:
- In its second week, “Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire” experienced a roughly 60% decrease from its $80 million debut on March 29. The film has garnered $135 million domestically, which matches its production budget, and $361 million internationally in total earnings.
- The film surpassed two other entries in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s MonsterVerse in domestic earnings, notably 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” ($100.9 million) and 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” ($110 million).
- Originally planned for a streaming-only release on Netflix, “Monkey Man” received a theatrical release after Universal Pictures acquired the rights for $10 million. Jordan Peele, whose production company Monkeypaw Productions has a distribution deal with Universal, believed Patel’s film deserved a theatrical release treatment after watching it.
- “I felt passionately that it was demanding to be on the big screen,” Peele told the Associated Press. “I could immediately see that this was a director who had gone through lengths and pushed and pushed and pushed because it really makes it to the screen. I mean, you have a film that is just absolutely huge, and the story of it is really intoxicating.”
- The British Indian director’s feature film debut has an 87% critics rating and an 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
- Rounding up the top five box office weekend performers are “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” at No. 3 with $9 million, followed by fourth-placer “The First Omen” with $8.4 million and “Kung Fu Panda 4” at fifth with $8 million.
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