‘Shin Godzilla’ Re-Release Has Already Surpassed Its Entire Original North American Theatrical Run (but that’s not the whole story)
However, the original release earned more on average when comparing the first few days.
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I love Godzilla. I love the fact that Godzilla has seemingly gained even more popularity in recent years. I wish nothing but continued success for Godzilla and every iteration of the character. Seeing that Shin Godzilla is doing well in theaters nearly a decade after its original release makes me immensely happy.
How well is it doing? Through Sunday, August 17th, the North American re-release of Shin Godzilla earned nearly $2.5 million in just four days. The original North American theatrical release in 2016 made just over $1.9 million during its entire run. Sounds amazing, right?
Godzilla’s Popularity Is No Surprise
Well, despite the hyperbolic and context-free way I’ve seen some people online talking about the film’s current theatrical success, it really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Shin Godzilla has already made more money during its current theatrical run than in its 2016 North American release.
For one thing, Godzilla Minus One (2023) still resonates strongly with audiences. It’s a fantastic movie, and it boosted the global franchise with a spectacular alternative to the MonsterVerse version of Godzilla (which is a lot of fun in very different ways). Godzilla Minus One was one of the best movies of 2023, and it’s one of the best in the 51-year franchise. The current popularity of Godzilla is a big reason why Shin Godzilla is doing well in 2025. Why? Because that popularity allowed Shin Godzilla to be re-released in many more theaters than when it originally came out.
Comparing Releases
Looking at Box Office Mojo, the 2016 FUNimation release of Shin Godzilla opened in 490 theaters throughout North America. That was on Tuesday, October 11th, 2016. By Friday the 14th, the number of theaters showing Shin Godzilla dropped to 26. That’s 26 total theaters in the United States and Canada. There would be a few spikes in that number over the following weeks, but by October 23nd it dropped to 20 theaters and continued to decrease. In total, of the 31 days listed on Box Office Mojo, Shin Godzilla spent eight days above 30 theaters, and only five with more than 200 theaters.
By contrast, GKIDS’ 2025 re-release of Shin Godzilla opened in 1,290 theaters. So, it’s difficult to compare box office totals when one movie is released in more than two and a half times as many theaters. Again, I’m not trying to downplay the fact that it’s the popularity of Godzilla that allowed it to have a wide re-release, but we’ll never really know how well Shin Godzilla would have done in 2016 if it had been given the same chance for fans to see it.
2016 Is Better On Average
Consider that the average amount earned for the first three days (Thursday through Saturday) of the 2025 re-release is about $507 per theater. The average per theater for the 2016 release equals about $738 per theater, and that’s for Tuesday through Thursday. If we compare the first Friday through Sunday averages for each, 2016 wins by a significant margin ($420 to $1,753).
All this is to say, I’m happy that people are loving Shin Godzilla, but the hyperbolic way people talk about it can lead to skewed views on the history of the franchise’s success. This happened in some ways with Godzilla Minus One, and it’s happening with Shin Godzilla. Context matters. Just like how context mattered with all the talk about the “new rules” of Godzilla that spread online last year.
