By Erich Schwartzel

Who won "Godzilla vs. Kong"? Hollywood.

An entertainment industry worried about getting consumers back to the theater received a burst of confidence this weekend, when a monster mashup collected a robust $48.5 million over five days despite coronavirus-driven capacity limitations in most auditoriums.

The film easily had the best box-office debut since the pandemic began, indicating pent-up demand exists to resume normal activity among consumers. The last "Godzilla" movie, released in 2019, made $47.8 million in its three-day opening weekend.

The nearly $50 million opening has turned "Godzilla vs. Kong" into an unlikely answer to a larger question facing American business: Are consumers ready to leave the house?

As mask mandates lift in some areas and Covid-19 vaccinations proliferate, concert promoters, restaurant owners and movie-theater operators are counting on a robust reopening to compensate for a year of stay-at-home restrictions. In Hollywood, the theatrical box office is especially scrutinized, since executives fear that a year of streaming at home will keep moviegoers from venturing back to the theater this summer season.

AT&T Inc.'s WarnerMedia has done more than most studios to contribute to such a fear, offering "Godzilla vs. Kong" and its entire 2021 slate for streaming on its HBO Max service alongside the theatrical debut. The studio didn't provide information on how the movie performed on streaming services this weekend.

The reopening of the economy was reflected in where the movie sold the most tickets. During the pandemic, top-performing locations tended to be drive-in theaters or smaller markets like Salt Lake City. This past weekend, multiplexes in El Paso, Los Angeles and other major cities saw the best sales.

The movie's No. 1 market, Los Angeles, is still keeping theaters to 25% capacity, but was able to take over a majority of screens at some locations due to a lack of competition in the marketplace, said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' president of domestic distribution.

"There was interest to go out and enjoy some normalcy," said Mr. Goldstein, adding that initial data showed a significant share of this weekend's moviegoers had not been to a theater in more than a year.

Box-office returns since the pandemic spread have been anemic. Before "Godzilla," the previous weekend record holder was "Wonder Woman 1984," which opened to $16.7 million in December. That topped other pandemic releases like "Tenet" and "The Croods 2," both of which debuted to less than $10 million.

More than just pent-up demand contributed to the "Godzilla" grosses. The movie benefited from a holiday weekend release, with most schools out of session for some days last week. It was also the only big-budget movie in theaters and faced little competition for fans of the genre.

The No. 2 movie this weekend, Sony Pictures' "The Unholy," grossed $3.2 million, followed by "Nobody," from Universal Pictures that made $3 million. Besides "Godzilla," the top 10 performers at the box office this weekend collectively grossed about $11.5 million.

"Godzilla vs. Kong" is the only major studio release for several weeks, giving studios time for capacity restrictions to further ease and for consumers to become more confident with heading out.

Its performance should give rival studios some relief, even as most executives have opted to wait until more vaccinations take place and more capacity restrictions are lifted before releasing their most high-profile movies.

The summer movie season is currently scheduled to begin in late May with "A Quiet Place Part II" and "Cruella," followed by several titles -- "F9," "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Black Widow" -- on track for release over three weeks starting in late June. All of those films were delayed by the pandemic, creating a calendar pileup that will require robust demand among moviegoers for the films to turn a profit.

Like those movies, however, "Godzilla vs. Kong" is a big-screen spectacle that could also satisfy consumers' interest in movies that don't play as well on a living-room screen. "Godzilla vs. Kong," for instance, overperformed in large-format auditoriums, like those operated by IMAX.

When the movie was made by Legendary, the production company behind the new "Godzilla" films, executives wanted it to be a popcorn spectacle, keeping the running time under two hours and focusing on "nothing more than it is: two big, iconic characters going at it," said Legendary Chief Executive Josh Grode.

The decision to keep it simple may have also contributed to the movie getting people out of the house after this past year, he added.

"Is the need for fun heightened right now?" said Mr. Grode. "Absolutely."

Write to Erich Schwartzel at erich.schwartzel@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This article was corrected April 5, 2021 to reflect that the movie "The Croods 2" was released during the pandemic. The original version incorrectly referred to the film as "The Croods."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-04-21 1444ET