Thursday Night Previews: Godzilla Floods Skull Island, but isn’t King of the Kaiju - Updated

May 31, 2019

Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Godzilla: King of the Monsters opened with $6.3 million in previews, which is almost exactly in the middle of Kong: Skull Island ($3.7 million) and Godzilla ($9.3 million). The film’s reviews have sunk to just 41% positive, which is close to the point where it will start to scare away potential moviegoers. However, I think its CinemaScore will be a lot better. I was hoping for a little more, so perhaps our $56 million prediction was a little too optimistic. That said, I think it will be close.

Rocketman managed $1.75 million in midnight previews, plus $580,000 in previous paid previews. The film is going to need really long legs to match our $35 million prediction after this start. Its reviews are amazing, but the film is R-rated and that could be keeping away a lot of its potential audience. I’m not saying Rocketman was going to be a huge hit with teenagers, but part of its target audience will still see its R-rating and stay away as a result.

MA pulled in $1.4 million during its previews, which is better than anticipated and it would take short legs to not top our $15 million prediction. Its reviews are not great, but they are solid, so the film should have good legs, for a horror movie. I don’t expect the film to top $20 million, but it is a possibility.

Filed under: Midnight Previews, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rocketman, MA