Godzilla Minus Zero Roars Towards a Record US Box Office Opening

Evening News · Saturday 7 November 2026

Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero is on course for a record-breaking North American opening weekend, days after smashing records at home in Japan. Also tonight: Kiernan Shipka and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai lead the David Lynch-produced thriller Hyena, Blumhouse Atomic moves on James Tynion IV’s Halloween battle-royale comic Exquisite Corpses, Shudder’s new horror Sundown heads to buyers, Teyonah Parris joins Denzel Washington for Christopher McQuarrie, and Netflix renews Nobody Wants This for a fourth season.

The News That Matters

Update: Godzilla Minus Zero heads for a record North American opening

• What’s new: Godzilla Minus Zero took $14.5 million in North America on Friday, including Thursday previews, from 3,254 cinemas, and is heading for an estimated $32 million weekend, The Hollywood Reporter said on Saturday. That is far above the distributor’s projection of the mid-$20 millions
• Why it matters: THR says the result is being billed as the best opening for a live-action foreign-language film there since Hero took $17.8 million in 2004. It is nearly three times the $11.4 million opening of 2023’s Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, and audiences gave it an A CinemaScore
• The competition: It comfortably beats Warner Bros’ animated The Cat in the Hat, tracking for about $18 million, while Sony’s Ramayana: Rise of a Legend is heading for about $7.3 million, the widest North American launch yet for an Indian film
• Where we were: The sequel had already broken Japan’s live-action opening-day record, as reported in our 4 November Morning News
• UK availability: In UK cinemas now; see our Weekly Cinema Pack for this week’s openers

A Japanese monster film beating a Hollywood family tentpole on a crowded weekend is a real statement. If you have not seen it yet, our Super Review says see it on the biggest screen you can.

Kiernan Shipka and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai lead David Lynch-produced thriller Hyena

• What happened: Kiernan Shipka (Longlegs, Industry) and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai (Reservation Dogs) will star in Hyena, one of the last films David Lynch signed on to as executive producer, Deadline reported. They replace the previously announced leads, Archie Madekwe and Havana Rose Liu. Edgar Ramírez and Rosemarie DeWitt also join
• The story: Genevieve (Shipka) brings her mysterious new boyfriend Alexei (Woon-A-Tai) home to meet her seemingly perfect family. He works his way into each of them, exposing long-buried secrets, until she is the only one who sees him clearly
• Who’s making it: Scott Coffey, who played Wilkins in Lynch’s Mulholland Drive and was mentored by him, directs from a script he wrote with novelist Blair Mastbaum. David Lancaster and Jeff Elliott produce. Filming starts in Spokane, Washington, in early 2027, and WME Independent and Upgrade are selling it at the American Film Market (AFM)
• UK availability: No UK distributor or release date yet; UK date not yet confirmed

Coffey calls it horror about the moment “grief and love turn feral”, and a Lynch protégé putting a stranger inside a perfect family sounds like a promising way to honour the late director.

Blumhouse Atomic develops James Tynion IV’s Exquisite Corpses

• What happened: Blumhouse Atomic has signed a first-look deal with Tiny Onion, writer James Tynion IV’s production company, and will develop his comic Exquisite Corpses as both a film and an animated project, Bloody Disgusting reported on 6 November
• The story: Every five years on Halloween, the Thirteen Families who secretly run everything hold a battle royale between their chosen killers. Each killer must use a weapon drawn at random, and the families place side bets on everything from the first death to the civilian body count. The Image Comics series, co-created with artist Michael Walsh, has sold more than a million copies
• Who’s making it: Blumhouse Atomic is already developing Tynion’s Something Is Killing the Children as a live-action film and an adult animated series. Jason Blum called Tynion a writer with “great storytelling instincts” and a passion for horror
• UK availability: Early development; UK date not yet confirmed

A serial-killer tournament with a satirical streak suits Blumhouse well, and running it as both a film and an animated series gives the gore room to go further.

Shudder’s supernatural horror Sundown heads to buyers at AFM

• What happened: Toronto’s Raven Banner will start international sales talks at AFM on Sundown, a supernatural horror starring Summer H. Howell, Screen International reported. Shudder has already bought all rights for the US, the UK and Australia/New Zealand
• The story: Three generations of women meet at a remote cabin to avenge the death of someone they loved, only to find that their captive is not who he seems, and his family is closing in, waiting for sundown
• Who’s making it: Rebekah McKendry directs from a script by Joshua Hull and David Ian McKendry. Olwen Fouéré (The Watchers), Camille Sullivan (Shelby Oaks) and Daniel Bernhardt co-star, and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash is an executive producer. It premiered at Locarno
• UK availability: Coming to Shudder in the UK; UK date not yet confirmed

Shudder holding the UK rights means British horror fans should not have to wait for an import, and a revenge story that turns into a siege is a strong pitch.

Update: Teyonah Parris joins Denzel Washington in Christopher McQuarrie’s thriller

• What’s new: Teyonah Parris (WandaVision, They Cloned Tyrone) will star opposite Denzel Washington in Amazon MGM Studios and United Artists’ untitled thriller, Deadline reported on 5 November. She landed the role after an audition
• The story: A former police detective serving a life sentence is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Given compassionate release with six months to live, he goes home to the daughter he left behind and a grandson he never knew, but his past has not forgotten him
• Where we were: We covered Washington and McQuarrie teaming up in our 21 October Morning News. Scott Barkan and Gregg Zehentner wrote the script, and McQuarrie produces with Heather McQuarrie and United Artists’ Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt
• UK availability: US cinema release set for 1 October 2027; UK date not yet confirmed

Parris taking on the estranged daughter gives the film its emotional centre, and pairing her with Washington should make it a two-hander worth watching.

Netflix renews Nobody Wants This for a fourth season

• What happened: Netflix has renewed the romantic comedy Nobody Wants This for Season 4, Variety reported on 6 November, just over two weeks after Season 3 launched on 22 October
• The numbers: The series has 78.5 million views across its three seasons. Season 1 spent eight weeks in Netflix’s global English-language TV top 10, and Season 2 spent four
• Who’s making it: Kristen Bell and Adam Brody star. Creator Erin Foster runs the show with Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan for 20th Television; the showrunners joked that they are thrilled to make more of “our favorite show on television, which coincidentally is the one we run”
• UK availability: Seasons 1 to 3 are streaming on Netflix in the UK; Season 4 UK date not yet confirmed

Joanne and Noah are clearly not done yet, and a fourth season gives the Sasha and Morgan storyline time to play out properly.

Have you seen Godzilla Minus Zero in the cinema yet, and does it top Minus One? Tell us below.

Back tomorrow with What to Watch Tonight at 7:30am and the Morning News at 8am.