Godzilla Minus Zero Rules the Global Box Office With $63m

Evening News · Sunday 8 November 2026

Godzilla Minus Zero has now confirmed the biggest North American opening ever for a live-action foreign-language film and topped the worldwide weekend chart with $63 million. Also tonight: Bill Skarsgård says he was never asked to test for James Bond, Thai horror Inherit and Indonesian hit Pabrik Gula both get sequels, Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial opens Camerimage, Heated Rivalry is reportedly filming two more seasons and a film, and The Remarried Empress sets a Disney+ record.

The News That Matters

Update: Godzilla Minus Zero confirms its record and rules the global box office

• What’s new: Sunday’s figures put Godzilla Minus Zero at $31.6 million from 3,254 North American cinemas, Variety reported, the biggest opening there for a live-action foreign-language film, well past the $17.8 million record set by Hero. Worldwide it took $63 million, Deadline reported, ahead of Ramayana: Rise of a Legend on $55.7 million
• The big screens: It is the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX. IMAX screens brought in $12.7 million, or 40% of the North American total, and premium formats overall made up 74% of ticket sales. In Japan it has taken about $17 million since opening on Tuesday
• Elsewhere: Warner Bros’ The Cat in the Hat opened second in North America with about $20 million and $30.5 million worldwide. Ramayana was No. 1 in the UK with $3 million, which Deadline says is a record opening there for an Indian film
• Where we were: On Saturday we reported the Friday numbers and the estimated $32 million weekend in our 7 November Evening News
• UK availability: In UK cinemas now; read our Super Review before you book

The estimate held up, and the global number shows how far Toho’s monster now travels. British audiences went for Ramayana first this weekend; our Ramayana Super Review and Cat in the Hat Super Review will help you choose.

James Bond: Bill Skarsgård says he was never asked to test for 007

• What happened: Bill Skarsgård told Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast that he was not called in for Denis Villeneuve’s Bond film. “They didn’t call me about James Bond,” he joked, adding: “maybe they were like, ‘We can’t do a Swede for this guy.’ I wasn’t even thrown into the mix,” Variety reported on 7 November
• Villain instead?: He said he would not want to play 007 for a decade or more, but would happily “go in and do one Mads Mikkelsen villain”, though he is now choosier about villain roles after Pennywise and Count Orlok
• Where the search stands: Nobody has been officially cast. Deadline reports, citing insiders, that Robert Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult joined Jack Lowden, Josh O’Connor and Callum Turner in final screen tests, as covered in our 7 November Morning News. Deadline says a decision is widely expected by the end of November. Amazon MGM Studios has declined to comment on the casting reports
• Who’s making it: Villeneuve directs from a script by Steven Knight, with Amy Pascal and David Heyman producing for Amazon MGM Studios
• UK availability: No title or release date announced; UK date not yet confirmed

Skarsgård as a one-off Bond villain is a far more tempting idea than him as Bond, and Villeneuve would know exactly what to do with that stillness.

Thai horror Inherit gets a sequel, with Davika Hoorne returning

• What happened: Banjong Pisanthanakun, director of Shutter and Pee Mak, told Variety on 7 November that his psychological horror Inherit will get a sequel, with Davika Hoorne back. No schedule has been set
• The story: Hoorne plays Woranart, a youthful-looking grandmother who moves into her granddaughter’s wealthy household carrying a centuries-old centipede spirit with plans for the family’s youngest member. Pisanthanakun says he told Hoorne to think of Sharon Stone’s Catherine Tramell and Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter
• Festival run: It premiered as a Centrepiece selection at Toronto in September, closed Jakarta World Cinema this weekend and opens in Thailand on 19 November. Pisanthanakun developed it with The Medium producer Na Hong-jin
• UK availability: No UK distributor yet; UK date not yet confirmed

Announcing a sequel before the first film has even opened at home shows real confidence, and a glamorous immortal villain is a fresh twist on the possession film.

Indonesian horror hit Pabrik Gula sets a 2028 sequel

• What happened: MD Entertainment will release a sequel to its 2025 horror hit Pabrik Gula (Sugar Factory) in early 2028, the studio’s Astrid Wienardi said on Sunday at Taiwan Creative Content Fest in Taipei, Variety reported. No plot or cast has been announced
• The numbers: The first film sold more than five million tickets in Indonesia before opening in South-East Asia, the US and Europe
• What else is coming: MD also has Ivanna 2, from its Danur horror universe, due in early 2027, plus three IMAX films planned for next year. Wienardi said horror rooted in local folklore travels across borders more easily than drama
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

Indonesian horror is one of the busiest scenes in the world right now, and a sequel to one of its biggest hits should get a wider international release than the original.

Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial opens Camerimage as AI takes centre stage

• What happened: Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, with Andrew Garfield as OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Yura Borisov as Ilya Sutskever, opened the 34th Camerimage festival in Toruń, Poland, on Saturday, The Hollywood Reporter said. The ceremony began with a minute’s silence for the victims of Saturday’s mass shooting in Kraków
• What Guadagnino said: He shot the film on 35mm and said its real subject is the “tech oligarchs” and the economic and political power they have gained. His cinematographer, Malik Hassan Sayeed, called AI “just a tool, like any other”
• AI on the agenda: A humanoid robot opened the night, and video messages from Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and others weighed in on AI. Darren Aronofsky received the festival’s director award and Janusz Kamiński the THR Visionary Award. Separately, Nolan told Deadline the studios must enforce protections against AI training on their films
• UK availability: In UK and Irish cinemas from 22 January 2027, after Neon’s US release on 25 December

Opening the world’s leading cinematography festival with an OpenAI drama, shot on film, makes the point well. Expect the film to dominate the awards-season conversation about AI.

Heated Rivalry is reportedly filming two more seasons and a film

• What happened: Crave’s hockey romance Heated Rivalry is filming Seasons 2 and 3 back to back, six episodes each, Deadline reported on 7 November, citing sources. A rep for Crave said there are no projects to confirm
• The film: Deadline also reports a standalone holiday film shooting in December for a cinema release next December, centred on Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.) rather than Shane and Ilya. Author Rachel Reid has written a Scott and Kip Christmas short story
• What’s confirmed: Season 2, with Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, is confirmed for spring 2027 and adds Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie. We last covered the show when Storrie was linked to Marvel’s Ghost Rider in our 28 October Morning News
• UK availability: Season 1 is streaming on Sky and NOW; Season 2 UK date not yet confirmed

Until Crave confirms it, treat Season 3 and the film as reports, but making more of the show in one go would cut the wait between seasons.

The Remarried Empress sets a Disney+ record

• What happened: The Korean fantasy romance The Remarried Empress is the most-viewed local original premiere of all time on Disney+ and Hulu worldwide, based on its first three days, The Walt Disney Company announced. It is the No. 1 Korean title premiere in more than 50 markets, including the UK
• The story: Based on the NAVER webtoon, it stars Shin Min-a as Empress Navier, who agrees to a divorce only if she can marry the rival Crown Prince Heinrey (Lee Jong-suk). Ju Ji-hoon and Lee Se-young co-star
• What’s next: Four episodes are out, with two more every Wednesday from 11 November to the finale on 25 November. It was in our Weekly Streaming Highlights
• UK availability: Streaming on Disney+ in the UK now

Lavish costume romance is clearly a big draw for Disney+, and weekly episodes should keep it in the charts until the end of the month.

Who would make the better Bond villain, Bill Skarsgård or someone else entirely? Tell us below.

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