Godzilla Minus Zero opened to 31.6 million dollars in North America and Ramayana crossed 375 crore worldwide in three days, as two foreign language films owned the same weekend. The Japanese monster movie topped the chart in the United States and Canada, and the Indian epic did the same business in its own markets, and together they made the case that the biggest films in America are no longer made in America.
Why it matters
The Godzilla numbers are the record. The film took 31.6 million dollars in North America, the biggest opening ever for a live action foreign language film, beating the mark held by Hero since 2004. It played in 3,254 locations, earned an A CinemaScore and a 90 percent critics score, and took about 63 million dollars worldwide in its first three days.
The Ramayana numbers are just as striking. The film crossed 375 crore worldwide in three days, and it is now Bollywood second highest grosser of 2026 in North America, passing Drishyam 3 with 9.155 million dollars in less than three days. It sits behind only Dhurandhar 2, which has earned 28.64 million dollars in the territory, and it reached the position before completing its third day in theatres.
What happens next
The two films share a pattern. Both are rooted in stories their home audiences know by heart, Godzilla in post war Japan and Ramayana in the Indian epic, and both travelled because the spectacle translated. The global total of about 63 million dollars for Godzilla says the audience is not just American, and the North American total for Ramayana says the diaspora audience is large and willing to pay.
What happens next will be decided by the second weekend, when both films have to hold their audiences without the novelty of opening day. A film that grows from day to day is a film audiences are recommending to each other, and the Diwali weekend gave Ramayana one more day of holiday crowds. For the trade, the question is no longer whether foreign films can win in America. It is how often they will, and how soon the next one arrives.
