Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

Godzilla is a very big monster from Japan. He is in many films. The new film is called Godzilla Minus Zero. It opened in American cinemas on Friday.

The film is in Japanese. People in America read the words on the screen. These words are called subtitles. Many people do not like subtitles. But this time, a lot of people bought tickets.

The film can make about 32 million dollars in three days. That is a new record. No other film in a foreign language ever started so well in America.

The director is Takashi Yamazaki. He is from Japan. He also made the last Godzilla film. Critics like the new film very much.

a monster

A big, frightening imaginary creature.

a film

A story told with moving pictures. Americans often say movie.

a cinema

A building where people go to watch films.

subtitles

Words at the bottom of the screen that translate what people say.

a ticket

A small paper or code that lets you enter a cinema or event.

a record

The best result ever achieved.

a director

The person who tells the actors what to do and makes the film.

a critic

A person whose job is to say if a film or book is good.

Level 2 — Elementary

Godzilla Minus Zero opened in cinemas across the United States on Friday, and by Saturday morning the industry was already talking about a record. Box office experts expect the film to take about 32 million dollars over its first three days.

That would be the biggest American opening ever for a live-action film in a language other than English. The old record was 17.8 million dollars, set 22 years ago by Hero, a Chinese martial arts film starring Jet Li. Even after adjusting for inflation, Godzilla Minus Zero looks likely to come out ahead.

The film is directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who also wrote it and led the visual effects team. Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe star. It first appeared in public at the New York Film Festival in September, and it runs for 135 minutes.

Reviews are strong. Critics gave it 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and audiences gave it 96 percent, while cinema goers polled by CinemaScore awarded it an A. In second place this weekend is The Cat in the Hat from Warner Bros, which is expected to make around 20 million dollars.

the box office

The place where cinema tickets are sold, and the money a film earns.

an opening

The first few days a film is shown in cinemas.

live-action

Filmed with real actors rather than drawn or computer animation.

martial arts

Fighting sports such as karate or kung fu.

inflation

The general rise in prices over time, which makes money worth less.

visual effects

Images created or changed by computer to show things that were not filmed.

a review

A written opinion about how good a film, book or product is.

to poll

To ask many people the same question to find out their views.

Level 3 — Intermediate

For decades the rule in Hollywood was simple: American audiences would not read while they watched. Godzilla Minus Zero has spent one weekend dismantling it. Industry projections published on Saturday morning put the Japanese film on course for roughly 32 million dollars over its first three days in North America, which would be comfortably the largest opening ever recorded by a live-action film in a language other than English.

The previous holder of that record is a measure of how long the ceiling has held. Hero, Zhang Yimou's Mandarin language martial arts epic starring Jet Li, opened to 17.8 million dollars in 2004. Adjusted for inflation that figure is worth about 31.6 million today, so Godzilla Minus Zero stands to claim the record on both the raw and the adjusted charts. For comparison, its own predecessor, Godzilla Minus One, opened to 11.4 million dollars in 2023.

Takashi Yamazaki directed, wrote and supervised the visual effects, the same unusual triple role he held on the earlier film, which won the Academy Award for visual effects. Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe lead the cast, with Min Tanaka and Hidetaka Yoshioka in support. The 135 minute film carries an R rating and premiered at the New York Film Festival on 26 September before its wide release on 6 November.

Critical reception has been warm rather than ecstatic: 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, 96 percent from verified audiences and an A from CinemaScore, each slightly below the near perfect scores for Minus One. If the film follows a similar trajectory it could pass 275 million dollars worldwide. One caution applies to every figure here. These are Saturday projections based on Friday receipts, and final weekend numbers are not confirmed until Sunday.

a projection

An estimate of a future figure based on early data.

to dismantle

To take apart, or to destroy an idea piece by piece.

a ceiling

An upper limit that something does not pass.

an epic

A long film or story on a grand scale.

a predecessor

The thing or person that came before.

to supervise

To be in charge of work done by others.

a trajectory

The path something follows over time.

receipts

The total money taken in from sales.

Level 4 — Advanced

The subtitle barrier in American cinemas has been described, defended and mourned for so long that its collapse was always likely to arrive disguised as a monster film. Saturday morning projections put Godzilla Minus Zero on course for approximately 32 million dollars across its opening three days in North America, a figure that would make Takashi Yamazaki's sequel the highest grossing debut ever for a live-action feature in a language other than English, and do so by a margin wide enough to settle the argument.

The record being retired belongs to Zhang Yimou's Hero, which took 17.8 million dollars on its American release in 2004 and whose inflation adjusted equivalent is roughly 31.6 million. That the mark survived 22 years says less about the quality of what followed than about distribution economics: foreign language titles have historically been platformed in a few hundred arthouse screens, then expanded only if critics insisted. Minus Zero was handled as a tentpole from the start, which is the structural change the weekend actually demonstrates.

Yamazaki again occupies the triple role that made his 2023 film unusual, writing, directing and supervising visual effects on a 135 minute, R rated picture led by Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe, with Min Tanaka and Hidetaka Yoshioka in support. Godzilla Minus One, built for a reported fraction of a standard American blockbuster budget, won the Academy Award for visual effects and finished above 115 million dollars worldwide from an 11.4 million dollar domestic opening. If the sequel's multiplier holds, worldwide receipts above 275 million are plausible.

Two qualifications belong in any sober reading. First, these are studio and tracking projections drawn from Friday grosses, and Sunday's confirmed figures routinely land several million either side of them. Second, the comparison set is narrow: the record covers live-action foreign language releases, which excludes animated imports and English language international productions. Within that frame the achievement is real, and the lesson distributors will take from it is commercial rather than cultural. A Japanese language film opened wide, played to mainstream audiences and won the weekend against a studio family title, Warner Bros' long delayed Cat in the Hat, which is tracking near 20 million against a reported 86 million dollar budget.

to retire a record

To replace a long standing best result with a new one.

distribution

The business of getting films into cinemas and deciding where they show.

an arthouse

A cinema showing serious or unusual films rather than big commercial ones.

a tentpole

A major release a studio expects to support its whole year.

a multiplier

The ratio between a film's opening weekend and its eventual total.

tracking

Industry research that predicts how well a film will open.