Godzilla vs. Kong Is More Popular Than The Batman

The first trailer for Warner Bros.' Godzilla vs. Kong has become the most-viewed trailer from the studio over the course of a 24-hour period.

By Ross Bonaime | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

Godzilla vs Kong

The Godzilla vs. Kong trailer released on Sunday, and already the trailer has become the most-viewed trailer for a Warner Bros. movie. With 25.6 million views on all viewing platforms in just a 24 hours, Godzilla vs. Kong received more views than The Batman’s 22 million views in 24 hours, and the Dune trailer’s 20.8 million.

Godzilla vs. Kong is the fourth film in Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, which so far has included 2014’s Godzilla, 2017’s Kong: Skull Island, and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. While Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island were both reboots of their respective franchises, Kong: Skull Island concluded with an end-credits tease that showed cave paintings that depicted Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. Godzilla vs. Kong would in essence be the culmination of the MonsterVerse so far.

But even though this massive monster battle between Godzilla vs. Kong seems to be where this franchise has been heading all along, there are still future plans beyond this one-on-one fight. There is a new rumor that Mechagodzilla could be appearing in Godzilla vs. Kong, which would cause the two title characters to put aside their differences and team up against this robotic monster. This rumor also speculates that this film could set up aliens coming to our world, which Godzilla and Kong would supposedly fight in a later film.

Godzilla vs. Kong

Even more insane than Godzilla vs. Kong would be another rumored monster mashup of sorts, as there are rumors the MonsterVerse could also collide with the Pacific Rim franchise. Both Pacific Rim: Uprising co-writer and director Steven S. DeKnight and director of the first Pacific Rim Guillermo Del Toro have stated that they would love a Pacific Rim crossover with the MonsterVerse. Even MonsterVerse producer Alex Garcia has said that if Godzilla vs. Kong does well, the plan would be for these two franchises to come together.

Even as Godzilla vs. Kong’s trailer breaks records for Warner Bros., it’s still yet to be seen if Godzilla vs. Kong will do as well when it hits theaters and HBO Max. With many North American theaters still closed, and the film dropping on HBO Max cutting into their expected box office, Warner Bros. is going to have to rely heavily on the worldwide box office for this fourth installment in the MonsterVerse.

After this franchise began strong with Godzilla making $529 million worldwide and Kong: Skull Island going even further with $561 million, Godzilla: King of the Monsters sunk the franchise to a new low with $383 million. In the United States, Godzilla: King of the Monsters only made $110 million. But in this period of COVID-19 theater shutdowns, expect Godzilla vs. Kong to make far less than even that. 

Yet it does seem like Godzilla vs. Kong will do well in other parts of the world, and this record-breaking first trailer sure looks good for the outlook of this fourth MonsterVerse movie. We will see how well this clash of the titans does when Godzilla vs. Kong hits theaters and HBO Max on March 31, 2021.