Taking the box-office crown for the second weekend in a row, Adam Wingard’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” has also done something not seen since the pandemic began – it may just be a profitable hit.
Legendary’s monster mashup has come in just shy of $358 million worldwide as of Sunday, and that’s with the film being available on HBO Max, catering to limited capacity cinemas in the States, and major offshore markets in Europe and South America are still effectively closed.
Domestically the film sits at $69.5 million so far, while China accounts for the film’s biggest share with $165.4 million.
Even more interesting is Deadline reports the film is on its way to profit thanks to both the good numbers and the way it was financed.
After the HBO Max announcement, Warners bought back full rights to the film (including China), paying Legendary the $120 million it spent on the production – covering their entire costs but also cutting Legendary out from any revenue or profit on the film.
So Warners is on the hook for the $160 million production cost along with marketing costs which were tame compared to pre-pandemic levels (helped by several markets not being open.
After exhibitors take their cut, the film is currently at $131 million in direct revenue to Warners who are expected to earn up to nearly $200 million in domestic and international pay and free TV deals and worldwide home entertainment revenue.
Even with further interest and overhead deductions, the film is expected to be several dozen million in profit at least and none of that includes the extra revenue generated for HBO Max in the form of subscriptions or engagement.