Godzilla Minus Zero Tops Box Office; Cat in the Hat Earns Strong Opening
The kaiju sequel led the North American box office on opening weekend, while an Indian epic performed strongly overseas in the U.K. — a weekend defined by Asian cinema.
Toho and director Takashi Yamazaki's 'Godzilla Minus Zero' led the North American box office this weekend after generating strong Thursday previews and Friday grosses from thousands of theaters — leaving Warner Bros.' animated 'The Cat in the Hat,' which debuted in second place, well in its wake.
The result marks a strong domestic opening for a Japanese-language live-action title. The film is the sequel to 2023's 'Godzilla Minus One' and arrived with significant momentum on premium large format and IMAX screens, according to Variety.
Meanwhile, Sony's animated mythological adventure 'Ramayana: Rise of a Legend,' produced by Namit Malhotra and directed by Nitesh Tiwari, performed strongly overseas by debuting at No. 1 in the U.K. and Ireland, collecting several million dollars — pushing 'Godzilla Minus Zero' into third place in that market, according to Variety.
Variety described the weekend as one in which Asian cinema dominated the worldwide box office, fueled by historic attendance on premium large format and IMAX screens.
'The Cat in the Hat,' directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja for Warner Bros. Pictures, earned previews before its wider Friday opening. The animated film stars Bill Hader as the voice of the Cat, alongside Matt Berry, Quinta Brunson, Xochitl Gomez, Giancarlo Esposito, and America Ferrera. It received mixed reviews from critics, according to Wikipedia.
The film had a long road to theaters: an animated 'Cat in the Hat' was first announced by Illumination Entertainment in 2012 following the success of 'The Lorax,' but never materialized. Warner Bros. picked up the rights in January 2018, and the project went through multiple directorial changes before premiering at Warner Bros. Studios Burbank on October 25, 2026, ahead of its November 6 wide release.
Why it matters — The weekend signals growing global appetite for non-English-language blockbusters in Western markets, with a Japanese kaiju sequel and an Indian mythological epic both outperforming or matching major Hollywood animated releases.
⚠ Not yet confirmed
- Godzilla Minus Zero's domestic opening weekend was roughly $31–32 million
- $31M / $31-32 million opening weekend figure
- $20 million Cat in the Hat debut figure
- $6.7 million Thursday previews figure
- $14.5 million Friday figure
- 3,254 theaters count
Reported by variety.com, en.wikipedia.org, forbes.com
