"Godzilla Minus Zero," the sequel to 2023's acclaimed "Godzilla Minus One," opened at the top of the domestic box office this weekend with $31.6 million, distributor GKIDS reported, after the film broke opening-day ticket records in Japan when it debuted there on November 3 — Godzilla Day, marking the franchise's anniversary.
Warner Bros.' animated "The Cat in the Hat," featuring Bill Hader voicing the Dr. Seuss character, debuted at No. 2 with $20.5 million, well below the $25 million to $40 million range most pre-release tracking had projected. Industry trackers described it as the softest opening of any Dr. Seuss film adaptation to date, and reviews were split, with critics divided roughly down the middle on Rotten Tomatoes.
A crowded weekend at the multiplex
The rest of the top 10 showed a wide spread of genres and budgets: "Drummer Boy" opened at No. 3 with $9.3 million; the YouTube-adjacent documentary "You Can See Everything" added $8.86 million for a $79.8 million running total at No. 4; "Ramayana: Rise of a Legend," India's most expensive film to date, opened at No. 5 with a modest $8.65 million in North America despite its scale; family film "Wildwood" added $7 million for a $39.8 million total at No. 6; "Clayface" rounded out the top tier with $6.68 million and a $56.6 million cumulative haul.
What it means for the fall box office
Godzilla's win extends a strong run for Japanese-language and international releases at the North American box office this year, while Cat in the Hat's underperformance adds to a mixed fall season for major-studio family films, several of which have opened below expectations despite heavy marketing pushes. Distributors will be watching closely whether Godzilla Minus Zero can hold through the next two weekends before the holiday-season release slate crowds it out, and whether Warner Bros. adjusts its promotional strategy for Cat in the Hat's international rollout given the soft domestic start.
