Warner Bros. and the entire “Godzilla vs. Kong” team must surely be celebrating their pandemic-best debut of $48.5 million in its first five days, including $32.2 million from 3,064 theaters for the three-day Easter weekend. Unprecedented numbers in these times and an exceeding of all expectations.
This is by far the biggest showing since the COVID-19 pandemic began last March. Before it, the three-day opening for Warner Bros.' “Wonder Woman 1984” ($16.7 million) had the COVID-opening record. Of course, In normal times, “Godzilla vs. Kong” may have had an opening twice as profitable as these numbers, but this is still impressive considering it is also available for free to subscribers on HBO Max.
Just over 60 percent of cinemas are now reopened. Only 24 percent in Canada. Many cinemas have installed limited capacity seating which ranges between 25-50% of any given theatre.
‘Godzilla vs Kong’ could potentially make $100m by the end of April, while on HBO Max the entire time. It just goes to show how the death of theaters may not be imminent, because many of these blockbuster movies demand the theatrical experience.