The King of the Monsters just stomped straight through the record books.

Godzilla Minus Zero opened to $31.6 million domestically from 3,254 theaters over the Nov. 6–8 weekend — the biggest opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film in North America, according to final weekend estimates reported by the Associated Press.

The record it broke had stood for 22 years: Zhang Yimou’s Hero opened to $17.8 million back in August 2004. Godzilla Minus Zero nearly doubled it — and did it on a budget reported under $20 million.

Worldwide, the film took in $63 million, including $31.4 million overseas and $17 million in Japan alone. Friday alone brought in $14.5 million, including $6.7 million from previews — already more than the entire opening weekend of its predecessor, Godzilla Minus One, which debuted to $11.4 million in December 2023 on its way to $57.1 million domestic.

This is a follow-up to ToledoBuzz’s Friday report. That story covered the opening-day numbers; the full weekend total now confirms the record.

Premium screens powered the weekend: 74% of the domestic gross came from IMAX and other large-format screens, with IMAX alone contributing $12.7 million — about 40% of the total. The film is the first Japanese production ever filmed for IMAX, and it earned an “A” CinemaScore and a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score.

It is only the fourth non-English-language film ever to top the U.S. weekend box office, beating Warner Bros.’ The Cat in the Hat ($20.5 million) for the No. 1 spot. Overall, the weekend did $114 million at the domestic box office — the best first November weekend since the pandemic.

The sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One (2023), directed by Takashi Yamazaki, is distributed in North America by GKIDS and Toho.

The Godzilla statue at TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku in Tokyo. (Wikimedia Commons)

Sources: AP, USA Today, The Wrap, JoBlo