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The story
“Godzilla -0.0” opened on November 3, pulling in ¥910 million and 590,000 admissions on its first day alone — the biggest single-day opening ever recorded in Japan for a live-action film, domestic or foreign. That’s 201% of what the previous film, “Godzilla -1.0,” made on its opening day, and it’s playing in 448 theaters nationwide (including 65 IMAX screens). The film is also projected to top the North American box office in its opening week with over $30 million. On 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board, commenters praised the kaiju action and King Ghidorah’s portrayal, though opinion split over the amount of human drama and the ending, so reception was far from unanimous.
The latest entry in the “Godzilla” series, “Godzilla -0.0” (read “Godzilla Minus Zero,” directed by Takashi Yamazaki), opened on November 3, and it’s now confirmed that opening-day revenue alone hit ¥910 million with 590,000 admissions (according to Kogyo Tsushinsha data).
That makes it the biggest single-day, opening-day box office in Japanese film history among all live-action films, domestic or foreign. It’s a blockbuster start that puts the film on track to become the first in the “Godzilla” series to break the ¥10 billion mark.
“Godzilla -0.0” opened the same day in 448 theaters nationwide (383 regular screens plus 65 IMAX screens), with its opening-day gross coming in at 201% of the previous film, “Godzilla -1.0” (released November 3, 2023, total gross ¥7.65 billion).
Source: mantan-web.jp / Original article here
What people said
He was actually in Minus Zero
He showed up as an extra in 'Godzi-Minus' (fan nickname for the film)
Same here
Shikishima's personal arc was already told in full in the first film, so this one could go all-in on the kaiju fights, and that made it great
It's legit
They're projecting over $30 million opening week, which would put it at #1 in North America
King Ghidorah is awesome
The kaiju scenes are fantastic
The kid actor's crying and screaming is annoying
Way too much dumb human drama, it's grating
The ending sucks
Opening: Ghidorah is insane
Middle: 'Wait, is Professor Murakami a Ginza survivor too?' …oh, it's Hiroshima…they really went there…
Climax: Godzilla! Hurry up and wake up!!
End credits: Umi Shinonome!? Tomoyo Kurosawa!? Yuma Ishigaki!? Anno!?
That's roughly how it went for me
I wanted something more like Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, so this fell a bit flat for me
It's not the kind of Godzilla movie where you go 'yeah, this is exactly what I wanted'
So you'd rather watch a Godzilla movie where no kaiju shows up for the first 30 minutes?
Were they all old guys with weak bladders or something?
Well the human drama parts are boring, so that's everyone's bathroom break
In America, Spider-Man holds both the #1 and #4 all-time spots, Star Wars is #2, and Avengers is #3
In the sequel there's definitely going to be a scene where Murakami, taken to America, watches up close as Godzilla actually attacks the US
Kept meaning to watch it and just kept putting it off
You should really watch Minus One
Out of every Godzilla movie since 1954, it's hands-down the most fun
I'm a Final Wars guy myself
Feels like this one's going in a different direction, is that gonna be a problem?
Then it might not click for you
But I think you'd still like Minus Zero
Not Pacific Rim, but it's already set that Takashi Yamazaki's next film will be shot in Hollywood, and apparently it's a giant robot movie
For some reason this article doesn't count anime films as 'Japanese films'
For reference, the actual #1 Japanese film is:
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle Arc, Chapter 1: Akaza Returns
Release: July 18, 2025
Opening weekend (3 days): ¥5.524 billion
Admissions: approx. 3,844,000
LOL that's just on a completely different level than Minus Zero
It's not really a mystery, it's literally just categorized under 'live-action films' like it says
Though I can't deny that if they didn't deliberately exclude anime, this would look kind of unimpressive by comparison
It nagged at me the whole time, couldn't stop thinking about it
That outfit is an homage to Ghidorah's debut film, 'Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster' (literally 'The Greatest Battle in History')
By the way, the professor's assistant who gets crushed by Ghidorah is played by Yuma Ishigaki, and the one lifted up along with the whole house by the gravity beam is Tomoyo Kurosawa
The guy reading a newspaper on the train to Niigata is Anno
No idea who played Umi Shinonome though
That's not a parka, it's a 'yakke' (a Japanese term for a hooded work windbreaker)
Though yeah, basically the same thing
He died the same way Earth Mother did, so that's not happening
When the theme song kicks in like a WWE wrestler interrupting all that slow human-drama stuff, it's so hype
The ending, where Godzilla beats up the enemy kaiju and conveniently heads back to the sea, really gave off that classic 'VS series' vibe (the 90s Godzilla-vs-X movies)
Background and Points of Discussion
It’s worth noting that this “all-time #1” ranking applies specifically to opening-day box office among live-action films. Looking at Japanese films overall, the anime film “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Infinity Castle Arc” still holds the top spot outright, with over ¥5.5 billion and 3.84 million admissions in its opening three days — a distinction commenters in the thread were quick to point out. Additionally, the “projected #1 in North America” claim isn’t a confirmed box office figure but a forecast calculated by outlets like Kogyo Tsushinsha based on pre-release advance ticket sales and similar data. While reaction to the kaiju scenes and King Ghidorah’s presence was largely positive throughout the thread, opinion split on the amount of human drama and the ending, with some noting a shift in direction compared to the previous film, “Godzilla -1.0.” Note that posts making baseless assumptions about the director’s background were not included in this article.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (“Nandemo Jikkyo G”) thread “[Great News] Godzilla -0.0’s Opening Day Box Office Hits ¥910 Million, #1 in Japanese Film History! Projected to Top North America in Its Opening Week Too [The Age of Japanese Film].”
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