Following its huge bow in the international market, Godzilla vs. Kong also set a record-shattering debut in the North American box office.

The latest in the Godzilla and Kong franchises marked the highest weekend debut of any film in the coronavirus pandemic era so far. The Warner Bros. action/sci-fi/thriller also became the highest-earning movie of the year to date.

The movie, starring Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall, and Alexander Skarsgard, earned $32.2 million in the recent weekend. Over five days since it bowed last Wednesday, the monster film raked in $48.5 million.

What’s remarkable about director Adam Wingard’s MonsterVerse epic is that Godzilla vs Kong is also showing on HBO Max at no extra cost to subscribers. With more Americans getting vaccinated, Hollywood hopes that Godzilla vs. Kong’s encouraging box office numbers signal that moviegoers feel confident about going to their local cineplexes again.

It helped that Godzilla vs. Kong was screened in more than 3,000 movie houses in the United States and Canada, the widest theater count since the COVID-19 health crisis started.

So far, more than 55 % of cinemas have opened their doors, although still under capacity restrictions due to pandemic concerns.

Placing second with $3.2 million was The Unholy, a horror film directed by Evan Spiliotopoulos and top-billed by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Cary Elwes, Cricket Brown and William Sadler.

Bob Odenkirk’s action-thriller Nobody, which debuted at the top the other weekend, fell to number three with $3.07 million.

Finishing in the top five were Raya and the Last Dragon ($2.05 million) and Tom and Jerry ($1.4 million).

Overseas, Godzilla vs. Kong, directed by Adam Wingard, continued to set box office milestones. The clash of cinema’s iconic monsters now holds the record of being the quickest studio film shown during the pandemic period to earn $200 million.

In China, Godzilla vs. Kong is the first Hollywood release to reach $100 million since 2019’s Frozen 2. The blockbuster took in $44 million in the recent weekend, which brought its total earnings in the world’s biggest market to $137.1 million. However, the movie that ruled the Chinese box office was Sister, which netted $53 million.

The Warner Bros. movie featuring the titular brawl between the two giants also held strong in Taiwan, Mexico, Australia, Korea, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Russia.

The international box office was also livened up by the performances of Tom and Jerry ($3 million), Nobody ($2.92 million) and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway ($1.9 million in Australia).

In the streaming chart race, Ginny & Georgia, a dramedy following a teenage girl and her mother, prevented Disney from finally taking the top spot. Creator Sarah Lampert’s series, with leads Brianne Howey and Antonio Gentry, is currently Netflix’s hottest show.

For the week of March 1 to 7, WandaVision, Disney’s well-received mini-series featuring Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany and Kathryn Hahn, couldn’t topple Ginny & Georgia from the top berth.

Making up the rest of Nielsen’s Top 10 SVOD chart were Netflix programs, in order: Murder Among the Mormons, Behind Her Eyes, Firefly Lane, The Crown, Orange is the New Black, Bridgerton, The Great British Baking Show and Longmire.