Godzilla Minus One is a box office success, as the live-action Toho movie made a ton of money compared to its budget. The Japanese Godzilla movie was released in the United States in December 2023 to relatively moderate expectations for how it would perform. However, Godzilla Minus One‘s reviews and Rotten Tomatoes score brought more interest in the movie. Praise for the movie’s emotional human story, great VFX, and terrifying portrayal of the King of the Monsters helped turn a movie that could have had little impact on the box office into one of the last surprise hits of 2023.

The adoration for the Toho movie ensured that plenty of viewers continued flocking to theaters to watch Godzilla Minus One. Although the box office does not come close to some recent Monsterverse movies or even past films starring Godzilla, the 2023 monster movie is in a rare position where it does not need a massive worldwide haul to be successful. Toho and director Takashi Yamazaki worked frugally to ensure that Godzilla Minus One could be a box office success even if it did not earn several hundreds of millions of dollars.

Godzilla Minus One’s Budget Is Less Than $15 Million

Takashi Yamazaki Has Not Confirmed The Budget

Toho has not officially disclosed how much Godzilla Minus One cost to make, but a $15 million budget has been associated with the movie. This information comes from one of the movie’s rave reviews, as Variety called it a “$15 million enterprise.” But, director Takashi Yamazaki denied that (via Comicbook) by saying, “I wish it were that much.” The reported Godzilla Minus One budget is significantly lower than most modern Hollywood movies, especially blockbusters that boast a similar scale. To put the much lower cost into perspective, the Monsterverse movies have all had budgets at least ten times as large.

Monsterverse Movie
Budget

Godzilla
$160 Million

Kong: Skull Island
$185 Million

Godzilla: King of the Monsters
$170-$200 Million

Godzilla vs. Kong
$155-$200 Million

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
$135 Million

How Much Godzilla Minus One Made At The Box Office

The Movie Drastically Beat Expectations

The worldwide Godzilla Minus One box office numbers (via Box Office Mojo) rose higher than anyone expected. The movie originally opened in Japan on November 3, 2023, and understandably performed quite well there. Godzilla Minus One made $48.2 million as people celebrated the 70th anniversary of Toho’s franchise. The film was released in additional international countries like Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, and Australia, but interest in the monster movie was notably lower. The 11 international markets accounted for $59.4 million of the worldwide box office total.

Godzilla Minus One found a significant audience in America upon its domestic release on December 1, 2023. The movie opened above expectations and made $11.4 million in its opening weekend, coming in third place for that weekend. The final domestic total was $56.4 million, as the movie has added tens of millions of dollars more in subsequent weeks. This was due to Toho announcing an extension to the planned Godzilla Minus One theatrical run to meet demand. After two months in theaters, the new Godzilla movie made $115.8 million worldwide, becoming Toho’s highest-grossing movie.

How Godzilla Minus One’s Box Office Compares To Legendary’s Monsterverse Movies

The Monsterverse Has Bigger Box Office Performers

Godzilla Minus One‘s box office is certainly impressive considering how little it cost to make. And yet, its performance still falls well behind what the Monsterverse movies have made. Warner Bros. and Legendary’s franchise has used Godzilla and Kong to headline movies that became major hits. All five Monsterverse movies outgrossed what Godzilla Minus One made by a rather substantial margin, with even the lowest-grossing franchise entry tripling the 2023 film’s total.

Movie
Box Office

1.
Kong: Skull Island
$568.6 Million

2.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
$567.5 Million

3.
Godzilla
$524.9 Million

4.
Godzilla vs. Kong
$470.1 Million

5.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
$387.3 Million

6.
Godzilla Minus One
$115.8 Million

Comparing the box office hauls of Godzilla Minus One and the Monsterverse movies reveal a staggering difference, but that does not make Minus One any less successful. In fact, it is likely the most profitable venture thanks to how much it made compared to how small its budget was. Several of the Monsterverse movies turned a profit for the studios, but none come close to the multiplier that Godzilla Minus One has after its impressive box office haul.