Toho's Godzilla Minus One was originally set for a short, limited theatrical run, but the box office response to the film has resulted in the pic expanding into even more North American theaters and extending its theatrical.
After a record-setting weekend, Minus One also broke a box office reocord this past Monday.
This past weekend, Minus One had the the biggest North American debut of a foreign film this year and its box office gross is only going to continue to grow.
Over the course of the week, the number of theaters showcasing the Godzilla film will increase its theater count from 2,308 to 2,540 and counting.
Godzilla Minus One is directed and written by Takashi Yamazaki (Lupin III The First, Dragon Quest: Your Story). It stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi Shikishima, Minami Hamabe as Noriko Ōishi, Yuki Yamada as Shirō Mizushima, Munetaka Aoki as Sōsaku Tachibana, and Hidetaka Yoshioka as Kenji Noda.
In a press release, Yamazaki commented on the film becoming the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film in North America. "I am happy that Godzilla, of all characters, has eclipsed a record that had not been broken for a long time. Looking back, I think that the cast and crew were all working on the film with the same goal in mind: to make something entertaining! That is what led to such a wonderful result. I will always remember this."
The official synopsis for the film reads, "In the final days of World War II, a small group of Japanese soldiers encounter a dinosaur-like creature on a remote island and are massacred—leaving only two survivors. Two years later, the creature, now many times its original size and capable of shooting thermonuclear breath, appears and begins attacking ships off the coast of Japan—moving ever closer to the still-devastated, post-war Japanese mainland."
Godzilla Minus One started its limited theatrical run in North America on December 1, following special fan showings on November 29.