“Godzilla Minus Zero” and “The Cat in the Hat” open Friday in a tight race for the top of the North American box office, and the Japanese monster sequel could win a weekend no Toho-made Godzilla film has ever taken.
Analysts project $24 million to $35 million for the GKIDS-distributed film, with IMAX screens behind it. A win would make it only the fourth non-English release to lead the weekend chart, after “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004, “Hero” later that year and “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle” in September 2025.
The sequel carries momentum from its predecessor. Director Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One” opened third in 2023 with $11.4 million, behind Beyoncé’s concert film. It went on to earn $57.1 million in the U.S. and Canada and nearly $114 million worldwide, and it won the franchise’s first Oscar. “Minus Zero” has drawn Rotten Tomatoes scores above 90%. Critics split over whether it tops the original, but most call it a worthy follow-up.
Warner Bros. enters with the weaker hand on projections, though the range is wide. Box Office Theory forecasts $12 million to $17 million for the Dr. Seuss adaptation. Other trackers say $20 million to $22 million, and earlier industry estimates went as high as $40 million. Bill Hader voices the Cat in the first release from Warner’s rebuilt animation unit, which cost a reported $100 million. Early reviews are mixed. Some critics like Hader and the loose approach to the book, and others say the film lost the spirit of its source. For comparison, Illumination’s “The Grinch” opened to $67.5 million in the same slot in 2018.
The rest of the field sits well behind. Sony’s “Ramayana: Rise of a Legend,” the first Indian film to carry the “Filmed for IMAX” label, is projected at $6 million to $10 million over four days from about 1,300 theaters. Searchlight’s “Wild Horse Nine,” from “In Bruges” director Martin McDonagh, is tracking near $7 million from about 1,000 locations.
Both openers have a short window. Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” arrives in two weeks and is expected to lead the month, and Disney’s “Hexed” follows at Thanksgiving.
