Godzilla: King of the Monsters seemed like it may be on its way to a respectable box office opening. Its Thursday preview numbers were ahead of Kong: Skull Island, even if they were behind its 2014 predecessor from Gareth Edwards, the overseas numbers would likely help compensate for any shortcomings this side of the Pacific, right? Well, as much as audiences did seem to enjoy this film, it wasn’t really enough.

In North America, the film took in a disappointing $49 million. That’s worse than Kong: Skull Island‘s $61 million opener and far worse than 2014 Godzilla’s $93 million opener. What’s worse is that there was a 17% drop from Friday to Saturday, which is a big contrast from the 19% increase Kong: Skull Island enjoyed, meaning that word of mouth wasn’t enough to get people into theaters, in spite of its 88% Audience Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as its B+ CinemaScore.

Clearly, when audiences were looking to lose themselves in the theaters, the likes of Aladdin, Rocketman, and Ma served as decent enough counter-programming to take a chunk out of its revenue.

RELATED – Why Fans Are Having Issues With The Godzilla Franchise

However, the folks over at Deadline speculate that it all has less to do with the movie and more to do with Godzilla being a tired I.P. They also point to the marketing, which was distinctly focused on the monsters over A-list stars and typical action movie trailer.

I’m sure the studios will be looking at where they ultimately failed, but one can’t help but wonder if it will affect the prospect of Godzilla vs. Kong. After all, that is ultimately where this path is going.

Did you have a chance to see the film? Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Deadline