It’s become easy to forget that, just five years ago, there was legitimate concern that movie theaters were no longer viable in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Theaters closed for months on end in 2020, and when Christopher Nolan’s Tenet was the first blockbuster released during the era, it was far from a success, even though it faced literally zero competition.
That’s why, when Godzilla vs. Kong hit theaters on March 31, 2021, it was a true test for the future of the cinematic experience. As vaccines made their way into the world and theater chains like AMC and Regal reopened their doors, we wondered if the global levels of communal viewing needed to justify a Hollywood blockbuster’s existence could truly exist again.
With all due respect to Tenet and The New Mutants, GvK was the first big event movie that had a shot at making serious money as vaccines rolled out and things started to look up. A showdown of two cinematic titans taking place in Warner Bros. and Legendary’s MonsterVerse was fated to be Hollywood’s canary in the coal mine.
Directed by Adam Wingard, Godzilla vs. Kong picked up in the MonsterVerse after the events of 2019’s divisive Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The difference? Kong and Godzilla would finally come face-to-face. It can’t be accused of being high art, but after months of being trapped indoors by existential threats, it was the perfect movie to welcome people back to theaters. It was an easy sell, and didn’t require homework. It promised a big popcorn epic with two legendary monsters duking it out for our collective entertainment.
Still, the movie’s success was far from guaranteed. For one, the streaming wars went nuclear in 2021, with Hollywood doubling down to secure its future in a post-pandemic world. Warner Bros., in particular, pissed off A-listers everywhere by announcing that all of its 2021 movies would debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, undercutting box office sales that were already far from guaranteed for a $160 million franchise tentpole.
King Kong, seen here reacting to COVID’s impact on the box office.
Warner Bros. Pictures
For context, the domestic box office cleared at least $11 billion from 2015 to 2019, and had earned at least $10 billion annually since 2009. In 2020? That number dropped to $2.1 billion. Things were bad, and streaming seemed like the one true future, particularly with the advent of premium VOD, which brought new movies home at movie-ticket prices.
Netflix also reportedly offered $250 million for Godzilla vs. Kong (per Variety), which may well have happened if Legendary had its say. But WB held firm, and Wingard’s monster movie epic hit theaters. And while the situation was far from optimal, Godzilla vs. Kong was a success right out of the gate, opening to $123 million overseas, a then-record for the pandemic era. Despite the HBO Max release, GvK also became just the second movie to make $100 million domestically in the pandemic era, following A Quiet Place Part II. These were legitimately impressive numbers.
On a personal level, this movie will always have a special place in my heart. My friends and I rented out a theater to watch Godzilla and Kong duke it out on the big screen, and I literally cried when I walked into that Cinemark after a full year of only the occasional drive-in theater experience. It was the perfect way to return to my favorite activity. I wasn’t alone.
Although, are you ever truly alone when you have these guys with you?
Warner Bros. Pictures
Godzilla vs. Kong eventually earned $470 million worldwide, making it a true, unqualified success. It was the first sign that en masse moviegoing could still exist in whatever our new normal would look like. More broadly, it helped grow the MonsterVerse, paving the way for Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Apple’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters. The franchise is now arguably stronger than it’s ever been.
The box office remains somewhat perilous in the here and now, and is still failing to match pre-pandemic levels. The media landscape continues to shift, but when the occasion calls for it, people will happily show up to movie theaters. We’ve seen that plenty over the last five years. Barbie, Oppenheimer, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick. The list goes on, and it was GvK that proved it was still possible.
With the benefit of hindsight, this big, bright, unabashedly bombastic bit of monster-driven spectacle is a shockingly important piece of cinema history. To paraphrase Millie Bobby Brown’s character Madison Russell, “Godzilla saved us… how could you doubt him?”
Godzilla Vs. Kong is available to rent on Prime Video and other services.