Hey fandom, Jon D. B. here with a full-on box office monster mash, updating how Legendary’s titans of their Monsterverse are comparing, and everything you need to know about KONG: SKULL ISLAND‘s first month in theaters across the globe.

SKULL ISLAND has garnered both critical and fan acclaim, solidifying itself as the second successful monster mash in Legendary’s Monsterverse. As of April 6th, nearly a month after its initial release, KSI continues to release and perform higher than expectations across the globe (especially in today’s second-largest movie market – China), and remains in the top 10 US box office champions. This is, as any movie studio will tell you, no small set of feats.

Yet the question on every fan’s mind remains the same: How’s Kong shaping up against the King of the Monsters, Godzilla? These two royal giants are set to rumble once more in 2020’s Godzilla vs Kong, but for now we’ll have to settle for a box office comparison – so let’s get down to it!

Kong’s modern incarnation is a loud, bodacious, fast-paced action & monster film comprised of big name actors and fresh new directing talent, a model Legendary no doubt wanted to capitalize on again after their success with GODZILLA in 2014. Lightning struck twice for the studio, and Kong is making them a pretty penny. As of April 5th, 2017, Kong’s domestic total is $150,029,572. How does this compare to Godzilla’s? Kong still has a few weeks left at the box office to catch up, but given the competition’s brand recognition and star power it should bode as no surprise that the 2014 GODZILLA film’s domestic total is a good 50 million higher at $200,676,069. Will the giant ape catch up to his eternal rival? That remains to be seen! Legendary sure hopes so, as believe it or not Kong’s film ended up with a higher budget than Godzilla’s. Let’s take a look at both side by side courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

It feels a tad early to call this one at first glance, but it’s unlikely Kong will make up $50m in the coming weeks before retiring from theaters. This past week grossed $8m for the giant ape, so unless there’s a miraculous resurgence for his film in the U.S. we think it’s safe to declare Godzilla the winner at the domestic box office:

Godzilla: 1       Kong: 0

What about each monster’s coveted foreign box office totals? Again, its too early to completely call it, but Kong has now released in all major markets and accumulated $342,900,000 overseas. Once he spends a few months in China, Japan, the UK, and other territories to roundout his international total, however, we expect the results to be a bit higher. Our friends over at Sports Betting Dime recently released predictions for 2017’s box office so far, and they’re betting on Kong’s worldwide totals falling at:

• Kong: Skull Island – Worldwide Box Office Prediction: $530,000,000 

This feels right on the money to us, as Kong’s international accumulation literally just passed the $500m mark this morning, according to Variety. If it keeps up the same pace it’ll surpass Godzilla’s $529m total, as Kong’s foreign intake is already $14m higher than the Big G’s:

With an incredible opening day in China (second highest for an English-language film in history) and the highest ever opening in Vietnam amidst many other impressive feats – Looks like Kong easily wins the point for foreign box office!

Godzilla: 1       Kong: 1

In today’s market, however, a film seems to be held as much to its opening weekend performance as it does any sort of final tally. Imax and midnight releases have become a staple for pop culture fans, and Kong did not disappoint here with a respectable $61m opening. Both films opened at #1 their debut weekend, but Godzilla’s was much more impressive with $93m considering each film opened in relatively the same amount of theaters:

Godzilla easily takes the point for opening weekend totals:

Godzilla: 2       Kong: 1

Along with succeeding financially, Kong is, as mentioned, a critical hit as well. The two most cited film critique websites, Rottentomatoes and Metacritic, both certify KONG’s latest outing as a hit. But how do their scores compare?

Metacritic is generally the harshest of rating bodies, but also regarded as the most precise. Interestingly, their scores are equal for both beloved titans. Looking across the board, however, it becomes clear that Kong is the critic’s choice, holding notably higher scores on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. Kong definitely takes the point for critical ratings:

Godzilla: 2       Kong: 2

Now wait just a moment, surely this isn’t one of those articles that baits you in with a hook and then ends everything in a tie, right? Well… sort of, as it appears we definitely have said tie on our hands – akin to the first battle these two famously shared in 1962’s King Kong vs Godzilla. We will have a tiebreaker, though, and it will be won when Skull Island reaches the end of it’s theatrical run. Once Kong completes his time on international screens and accumulates a final wordwide box office total – if it’s higher than Godzilla’s $529m, he wins. If Kong falls short of the estimated $530m, then he loses. Simple as that. Once we have final tallies we’ll update accordingly and declare an official victor.

Who do you think is going to win this ultimate struggle between the world’s two most famous giant monsters? Will Kong come out on top, or will Godzilla keep his title as King of the Monsters? Let us know in the comments below and on our official Facebook page!

Until then,

Jon D. B.

Data Sources: BoxOfficeMojo, Metacritic, RottenTomatoes, IMDB, Variety