Warner Bros, the studio who just might win it all this year, can celebrate $1.2 billion being grossed around the world between Legendary‘s Dune: Part Two, which just crossed $700M, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire surpassing $500M. The moment comes as the studio re-released Dune: Part Two this weekend in Imax, just in time to coincide with Zendaya‘s other movie in release, Amazon MGM Studios’ Challengers, which Warners is handling overseas.
Dune: Part Two so far is the highest grossing movie of the year and buries the first 2021 film’s $407.5M global gross in the sand, that pic’s domestic release siphoned due to the studio’s pandemic theatrical-day-and-date release on streaming service Max. Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong is less than $25M away from overtaking the first Legendary Monsterverse 2014 title, Godzilla‘s global gross of $524.9M. GxK has already overtaken Godzilla vs. Kong‘s global gross of $470.1M and Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ $387.3M. Kong: Skull Island continues to beat its chest as the Monsterverse champ with $568.6M.
Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, Co-Chairs & CEOs, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group beamed, “We congratulate our partners at Legendary, Denis Villeneuve, Adam Wingard, and their casts and crews for bringing these amazing projects to life and to audiences around the world. We are also very proud of the work our global marketing and distribution teams have undertaken on behalf of Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong – these box office milestones are a testament to their tremendous efforts.” By the way, give credit where credit is due: The duo were responsible for buying Challengers when they were at Amazon MGM Studios.
Warner Bros.’ Jeff Goldstein, President of Domestic Distribution, and Andrew Cripps, President of International Distribution, added, “We are very proud to have these two films continuing to play in theaters with tremendous success around the globe at such a crucial time for cinemas, and we thank our exhibition partners for their invaluable support.”
Broken out, Dune: Part Two counts $422.3M overseas and currently $278.3M. The pic debuted in 78 markets with Legendary East handling distribution in China.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire counts $324.2M internationally and $176.2M domestically, for a combined global total of $504.0M. It was #1 for four weekends in a row globally and is now the biggest grossing film in the Monsterverse in 24 international markets (excluding previews), including Brazil, Indonesia, and Mexico. It is also the all-time biggest WB Film in India and Cambodia and the first WB Film ever to cross the Rs.1 billion box office mark in India. Godzilla x Kong is distributed by Legendary East in China and TOHO in Japan.
Since the start of 2024, Warners movies grossed $1.71B around the globe, the leaders currently in major studio marketshare. Warner Bros. has led the global box office for the past 8 months, delivering 6 of top 7 grossing films starting with Barbie.