Yeah, I’m well aware that the mere mention of The Cheesecake Factory carries an outsized amount of tsurris of late. But no matter what ideology you might somehow have there’s no denying that it somehow provides something for anyone of any background or regimen something worth indulging in, even if the price for it is based on overall quality is downright outrageous.
Such was certainly the case with this past weekend’s theatrical offerings in what can arguably be defined as the first legitimate salvo in the crucial holiday season battle for eyeballs and wallets. It also served up telling reminders of exactly how globally disparate the business is–something we’ve known for decades–and how crucial the so-called whales are becoming to maintaining a viable enough business model and a worthwhile enough experience that justifies getting off one’s couch at all.
As he typically does with thorough and impressive receipts, witness how DEADLINE’s Anthony D’Alessandro recapped this past weekend’s champion:
In what is a never-before-seen stat, 74% of Imax and PLFs combined drove the weekend gross of Gkids’ Godzilla Minus Zero‘s which is very close to the $32M opening that was reported yesterday, now at $31.6M. As we told you earlier today, the Takashi Yamazki directed movie is the No. 1 movie in the world with $63M, ahead of Prime Focus Studio and Sony’s Ramayana: Rise of a Legend‘s $55.7M WW.
That PLF and Imax share on Godzilla Minus Zero is bigger than the first weekend gross of Universal’s The Odyssey which collected 52% of its $123.5M opening weekend from both Imax and PLF auditoriums. This success comes from a marketing spend of under $10M in North America. You know that’s true because iSpot shows zero TV spots being purchased for Godzilla Minus Zero. Japan’s running cume on Godzilla Minus Zero since Tuesday is up to $17M (or 2.7 billion yen).
Godzilla Minus Zero gets a solid A CinemaScore, just like its first movie, 2023’s Godzilla Minus One. The definite recommend from Screen Engine/Rentrak’s PostTrak is massive at 85% and a 95% positive. As we told you, the opening here for Godzilla Minus Zero reps a record domestic start for Gkids not to mention it’s the best opening for a live-action foreign language film. (Note the overall record opening for a foreign language film at the domestic B.O. is held by Sony/Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle with $70.6M).
Being an outright number one in the U.S. for a film whose primary market was Japan was an unexpected bonus that THE WAKEUP’s Sean McNulty resonated even stronger with the more discriminating observers:
- Approx. $18M budget means this is looking like a huge win for studio TOHO and U.S. distributor GKIDS, especially with an under-$10M marketing spend in the U.S.
Ramayana: Rise of A Legend(2026) has grossed $57.13 million worldwide, including $8.65 million in the US and Canada and $48.48 million internationally. India is the film’s biggest reported international market, contributing $33.63 million to its worldwide total.- 75% definite recommend and 5/5 stars on PostTrak from opening night audiences.
- PRIME FOCUS STUDIOS produced the pic (this is a distro deal for SONY), which shot 2 movies at once for a $420M to $500M pricetag. So . . . this is going to be a long game.
For a studio desperate for something to use as a hammer with streaming services–and based upon how well that strategy benefitted Netflix with the DEMON HUNTERS franchises–knowing what Peter Rice’s taste buds typically are I’m smelling a deal for this there or for an even more motivated competitor to play said long game.
One competitor that likely won’t be in the mix will be ParaMAX Plus, which seems like it will need to the heavy lifting necessary to turn the mixed bag that THE CAT IN THE HAT trotted into the first true family holiday movie of 2026 into something closer to whole. Still, as our experts collectively noted, there were encouraging results independent of pro forma analysis:
Warner Bros Pictures Animation’s The Cat in the Hat didn’t fall flat, rather hit $20.5M after landing an A CinemaScore. That’s a big phew from the studio as some had this Dr. Seuss classic heading to high teens, which wouldn’t be a good start for the classic IP…This would need to 6x from opening weekend to come close to a break-even conversation.
- BUT: Int’l is getting a bit of a staggered rollout — it started on about 50% of the global footprint, and some big markets (U.K., FRA, GER) are not seeing the movie until December.
- AND: It’s also the only family theatrical offering until Hexed over Thanksgiving, and it has the Veterans Day holiday this week.
So there’s room at the inn (well, at least the mall-adjacent Marriott) for just about every taste. Especially those who cap off their day at the Cheesecake Factory.
Until next time…