Godzilla Minus Zero (ゴジラ－0.0) took more than ¥2.5 billion ($15.8m) and drew more than 1.61 million admissions in Japan in its first six days on release, from Tuesday 3 November to Sunday 8 November, Toho said on Monday. On figures from the tracking firm Kogyo Tsushin, Takashi Yamazaki’s sequel was No. 1 on Japan’s weekend chart by both admissions and gross, the same weekend it opened at the top in North America.
According to Toho, no Japanese film had led its opening weekend in both markets at once before. The double matters for anyone pricing Japanese live action abroad: on the opening weekend, the US and Canada were worth several times the home market.
Key facts
- Japan, 3–8 November (six days, actual): more than ¥2.5bn ($15.8m) and more than 1.61 million admissions (Toho, Kogyo Tsushin data)
- Japan weekend, 6–8 November: more than 690,000 admissions and more than ¥1.1bn ($6.9m); No. 1 by admissions and gross
- North America, 6–8 November (estimate, including previews): about $31.6m from 3,254 cinemas, No. 1; Toho puts that at about ¥5bn
- Scale: on Toho’s own exchange rate, the North American weekend was roughly four and a half times the Japanese one over the same three days
- Release: about 70 countries and territories so far, more than 100 planned (Toho)
The Japanese run
The film opened on 3 November, Culture Day, a public holiday in Japan and the date the original Godzilla was released in 1954. Its first day brought more than ¥910m ($5.7m) and 590,000 admissions, the biggest opening-day gross for any live-action film in Japan, domestic or imported, and about double the first day of Godzilla Minus One, as FilmBunch reported last week. Toho opened it in 448 cinemas nationwide.
The first weekend then added more than 690,000 admissions and ¥1.1bn ($6.9m). Over six days, Toho’s two thresholds imply an average ticket price of about ¥1,550 ($9.80); both are rounded floors, so the average is an approximation. Premium formats widen in Japan from 13 November, when Dolby Cinema, 4DX and MX4D screenings begin.
Imax screens are already doing heavy lifting. The film took a record $4m on Imax in Japan over the opening period, the biggest Imax launch the territory has had, according to Imax figures reported by Variety. Godzilla Minus Zero is the first Japanese film made under Imax’s Filmed for Imax programme.
Japan’s weekend top 10
Kogyo Tsushin’s chart for 6–8 November, ranked by admissions, had five new entries:
- Godzilla Minus Zero (Toho), new 2. Mama ga mō kono sekai ni inakutemo: Watashi no inochi no nikki (“Even If Mum Is No Longer in This World: My Life Diary”, Toei), week six 3. You, Like a Star (Nanji, hoshi no gotoku, Toho), week five 4. Kamen Rider Kabuto 20th: Inheritor of Heaven (Ten wo tsugu mono, Toei Video), new 5. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island (Toho), week 16 6. Verity (Sony Pictures), new 7. Resident Evil (Sony Pictures), week five 8. Grotesqqque (Animec), new 9. In the Clear Moonlit Dusk (Uruwashi no yoi no tsuki, Toho), week three 10. 4 Out: Mō ichido, purei bōru (“Four Outs: Play Ball Once More”, SDP), new
Toho distributes four of the 10. Chiikawa, in its 16th week in Japan, also led South Korea’s chart over the same weekend, as FilmBunch’s two-market read on Sunday showed.
North America and the rest of the world
In the US and Canada, where GKids distributes, the film opened on Friday 6 November in 3,254 cinemas, the widest North American release for a Japanese film. Its estimated $31.6m weekend, previews included, is the biggest North American opening for a live-action film not in English, as FilmBunch reported on Sunday. Toho says it is the first Japanese film to top the North American weekend since two animated features released in 2025, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, and the first Japanese live-action film ever to do so.
Toho converts the North American gross at ¥158.17 to the dollar, which gives about ¥5bn. Over the same Friday-to-Sunday window the film took more than ¥1.1bn at home, so the US and Canadian weekend was roughly four and a half times the Japanese one. Dollar figures for Japan here use the European Central Bank’s 6 November reference rates, about ¥158.33 to the dollar.
Outside North America the film was playing in about 70 countries and territories by Sunday, with more than 100 planned. Variety put the worldwide weekend at $63m, with $31.4m from outside North America. Toho expects it to become the first Japanese live-action film to top the global weekend chart, a projection based on industry estimates rather than a final tally.
Yamazaki, who also wrote the film and supervised its effects, thanked the audiences who rushed to cinemas on release day. For someone who had long admired Hollywood films and kept following in their footsteps, he said in his Japanese statement, seeing “our Godzilla” welcomed so warmly around the world was “like something happening in a dream”.
What is not yet reported
Toho has not published a Japanese cumulative beyond 8 November, a screen-by-screen breakdown or Imax’s share of the domestic gross in yen. North American actuals for the weekend are due later on Monday. Territory-by-territory figures outside Japan and North America have not been released by Toho.
Our reading
Two points stand out. In Japan, the sequel turned a record holiday opening into a No. 1 weekend instead of fading after the public holiday. And over the same three days, on Toho’s own numbers, North America was by a wide margin the bigger market for a Japanese live-action film. Whether that pattern holds will show in Japan’s second weekend and in the North American hold from 13 to 15 November. For Toho, whose half-year operating profit fell 25% before this release, the opening is the theatrical event it had pointed to.
Sources
- Toho, official Godzilla Minus Zero announcement of first-week Japan and North American results (Japanese), 9 November 2026, as published on the film’s official X account and reported by Oricon
- Nikkan Sports, Toho first-week figures (Japanese), 9 November 2026
- Kogyo Tsushin weekend admissions top 10, 6–8 November 2026, via Eiga.com (Japanese)
- Eiga Natalie, weekend chart report (Japanese), 9 November 2026
- Variety, worldwide weekend and Imax figures, 8 November 2026
- European Central Bank euro reference rates, 6 November 2026 (USD 1.1165, JPY 176.77)