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The hardworking lizard, trudging back to wide release in North American theaters for a fifth time in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” managed to sell about $49 million in tickets over the weekend, enough for first place. But the Legendary Entertainment sequel will nonetheless go down as the first big-budget disappointment of Hollywood’s summer season.
“King of the Monsters” cost at least $170 million to make, not including $100 million (plus) in global marketing costs. Initial ticket sales in the United States and Canada fell behind those for its series predecessor by 47%, according to Comscore data. Critics were not kind. “Beyond the awesome destruction, it’s not easy to build the character, story, emotion — the glue that sustains a series — when it’s all about the monster,” said David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, a movie consultancy.
But there is no rest for the weary in today’s franchise-fixated film business, in part because monsters still draw big crowds overseas, where Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah and pals collected about $130 million over the weekend. “Godzilla vs. Kong” has already been scheduled for release in March.
“Aladdin” (Disney) was a strong second in its second weekend. It took in about $42 million at theaters in North America, for a new total of $185 million ($446 worldwide).
The R-rated musical fantasy “Rocketman,” about Elton John’s breakthrough years, collected an estimated $25 million in third place for Paramount Pictures. The studio said that the zany bio-musical took in an additional $19 million in 40 overseas markets, lifting its international total to $31 million.
Also opening in wide release over the weekend was “Ma,” a horror movie starring Octavia Spencer. The movie, made for about $5 million by Blumhouse and Universal, sold about $18.3 million in tickets, according to Comscore.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.