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Latest from the B.O.:

The latest take on the iconic Japanese movie monster thundered to a $93.2 million opening this weekend in North America, crushing the competition and stomping past the expectations of analysts and the studio, which were for a debut in the $70 million range.

The massive opening is just under the year's-best $95 million that “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” managed in April, so we'll have to wait for Monday's final figures to see who's really on top.

It added another $103 million from 64 foreign markets this weekend as well, the biggest international opening for any movie this year.

It's the biggest opening ever for a “monster movie.” That's a hard term to define, but it blew away the $72 million debut of “Jurassic Park: The Lost World” in 1997, which tops the list of “creature features” at Box Office Mojo.

And it's the biggest May opening ever for Warner Bros., ahead of the $91.4 million that “The Matrix Reloaded” put up in 2003.

Director Gareth Edwards's “Godzilla” played more strongly than expected across the board, connecting with young fans drawn by the spectacle and older moviegoers for whom the rampaging reptile may have struck a nostalgic chord. Sixty percent of the audience was over 25 years old, and males made up 58 percent of the crowd.

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