One of the biggest questions of the COVID-19 era, which has ravaged the international box office and leaves cinemas closed in some markets, was what it would take to bring people back to the cinema.
In the Gulf, that’s clear: An epic battle between two of cinemas longest-reigning heavyweight champs—Godzilla and King Kong.
Godzilla vs. Kong, a combined sequel to Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla: King of Monsters (2019), won an astounding 138,000 admissions at the UAE box office in its first four days, with a $1.9 million weekend total in the Emirates.
Saudi Arabia was right behind the UAE, with 76,000 admissions for the feature.
Esquire Middle East spoke to star Alexander Skarsgård about the film, as well as his love of death metal and the film’s pro wrestling influences.
Comparatively speaking, recent hits such as Tom & Jerry and Raya and the Last Dragon have been opening in the 20,000 admissions range in the UAE, a sign that business is back in a big way.
The film has been a huge hit in every market it opened in, earning $123.1 million in 38 international markets, with China alone bringing in $69.2 million. The film is tracking well ahead of 2014’s Godzilla film, as well as ahead of Godzilla King of Monsters and similar to Kong: Skull Island in 2017 pre-pandemic.
The film has been a hit with critics, currently sitting at 81 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes with 118 reviews counted.
In second, the Malayalam film The One opened well with nearly 20,00 admissions, with Nobody, the action film starring Bob Odenkirk, held on with another 10,000 admissions, dropping over 50 per cent from last week, a signal that the action-movie-hungry audience almost entirely flocked to Godzilla vs. Kong, Other number-one openers have held on stronger in previous weeks, with Raya and the Last Dragon actually improving in week two.
Both Raya and the Last Dragon and Tom & Jerry stayed n the top five, with 8,000 and nearly 6,000 admissions respectively for the two films.
Open for seven weeks now, Tom & Jerry has totalled over 150,000 admissions, an impressive feat for the animated/live action hybrid.
Raya and the Last Dragon, starring Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina, is set in a fictional kingdom called Kumandra, based on the culture of Southeast Asia, where humans and dragons once lived in harmony, before the world fell into disarray. The story follows young princess named Raya goes on a journey to find the last known dragon in existence and once again unite the kingdom.
The film has gotten a hugely positive reception from critics and audiences alike. The film currently holds a 96 percent critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.6/10 on IMDb, which is fan-voted.
The Courier, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Dominic Cookedropped to 14 with only 742 admissions, down from 3000 the week earlier. The film tells the true story of a British businessman who helped stopped the Cuban Missle Crisis in the early 1960s.
Two Oscar hopefuls, Nomadland and Another Round, both opened over the weekend under 1000 admissions each, with Nomadland netting nearly 1000 and Another Round bringing in 450.
Another Round was a bigger hit in Saudi Arabia , bringing in over 1,700 people in its first three days.
The Father, nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, dropped to 18 with another 431 admissions.
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