Shin Godzilla Becomes Japan's Most Attended Godzilla Film in 50 Years

Cinema Today has reported that Shin Godzilla has surpassed 4.2 million in attendance. Originally projected to finish with 3.0-3.3 million, the film has now surpassed Japan's numbers for the Legendary film, the Millennium series (1999-2004) and the Heisei series (1984-1995).

The last Godzilla film to hit an attendance as high as 4.2 million was Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992). The movie's 24 year old record has now been broken and Shin Godzilla has sold the most tickets in the series since 1966's Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, with an attendance of 4.21 million. That makes the new film the most attended Godzilla film since the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema where attendance numbers were usually a bit higher than what is seen today in Japan's more competitive and TV savvy market.

Shin Godzilla will undoubtedly become the most attended film in 51 years very soon as Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster's numbers are very close to being broken. The next movie on the chopping block would be Monster Zero, aka, Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) with an attendance of 5.13 million. That number may be just out of reach for Shin Godzilla, but still possible if it ends up making $73-$75 million USD at the box office.

Shin Godzilla's attendance of 4.208 million places its current gross at 6.1 Billion Yen. (An estimated $59.5 Million USD.) One of the most successful movies of the year, it is currently the #5 highest grossing film of 2016 in Japan and the #1 highest grossing live action Japanese film of the year. The only live action film to top it is a Hollywood production--Star Wars: The Force Awakens; the other three top five films are animated. (Animated films are usually the biggest competition in Japan.) Shin Godzilla is expected to finish its run around $70-$75 Million USD.

Below is a list of the Godzilla series' attendance numbers and Shin Godzilla's ranking as of September 7th, 2016.

And make sure to follow Shin Godzilla's gross in our Shin Godzilla Box Office Watch thread here.

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Cinema Today
World of KJ