Fox Closes $22B Roku Buyout as Godzilla Minus Zero Opens at $31.6M

Fox Corporation Completes $22 Billion Acquisition of Roku

Fox Corporation has closed its $22 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of connected-television platform Roku, finalizing on November 6, 2026, an agreement first announced in June 2026 that brings an open distribution network serving more than 100 million households worldwide under Fox's corporate umbrella, according to Hoodline.

Under the final transaction terms detailed by Fox Corporation investor relations, Roku shareholders received $95.30 in cash plus 0.9799 shares of Fox Class A common stock for each Roku share (following a September Reuters report that had described proposed terms of $96 in cash and roughly 0.97 Fox Class A shares valued at $160 per share). Following completion of the buyout—which proceeded after a Department of Justice Second Request recorded in a September 8, 2026, Securities and Exchange Commission filing briefly sent Roku shares down about 2%—Fox stockholders hold approximately 74% of the combined company's outstanding common stock, while former Roku stockholders own the remaining 26%.

Roku founder Anthony Wood has joined Fox's board of directors and will co-chair the newly created Fox Digital Platforms division alongside Paul Cheesbrough, consolidating Roku, The Roku Channel, Tubi, Fox One, and Red Seat Ventures under unified management. Fox projects the transaction will generate approximately $400 million in annual run-rate cost synergies within 2 years of closing and become accretive to free cash flow per share by the second full year. Earlier in April 2026, Roku reported surpassing 100 million streaming households as first-quarter Platform segment revenue climbed 28% to $1.13 billion (above a $1.01 billion estimate), prompting Roku to lift its 2026 platform revenue growth forecast from 18% ($4.89 billion) to 21% ($5 billion), followed by more than $727 million in September-quarter advertising revenue (up 23% year-over-year). Combined across Roku, Tubi, and Fox linear networks, the company accounted for 8.5% of total monthly U.S. television viewership, ranking fourth among media distributors and ahead of Netflix and NBCUniversal in Nielsen metrics.

Godzilla Minus Zero Sets $31.6 Million Foreign-Language Debut Record

In theatrical exhibition, director Takashi Yamazaki's post-World War II Japanese-language sequel "Godzilla Minus Zero"—produced by Toho on a budget under $20 million and distributed in North America by GKids—opened at No. 1 with $31.6 million across U.S. and Canadian theaters and $17 million in Japan, setting a North American opening record for a live-action foreign-language film as overall weekend ticket sales surged 96.8% over Halloween weekend, according to Rentrak figures reported by the Associated Press on KCBS Radio.

Celebrating the franchise's 72nd anniversary, "Godzilla Minus Zero" (90% on Rotten Tomatoes and an "A" CinemaScore after premiering at the New York Film Festival, following 2023's Oscar-winning "Godzilla Minus One," which cost under $15 million and earned $57.1 million domestically) surpassed the $17.9 million live-action foreign-language mark set by 2004's "Hero" (trailing only 2004's Aramaic-language "Passion of the Christ" at $83.8 million and last year's anime "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle" at $70.6 million). IMAX screenings—stated by Toho Global president Koji Ueda as part of a near-simultaneous global launch following Tuesday's early IMAX release—generated $21.3 million globally, or 34% of the film's worldwide total, ahead of Warner Bros. and Legendary's March release "Godzilla x Kong: Supernova."

Warner Bros.' $86 million animated "The Cat in the Hat" starring Bill Hader—following Mike Myers' 2003 live-action version—placed second with $20.5 million domestically and $10 million overseas (44% on Rotten Tomatoes). Angel Studios' Revolutionary War-set musical release opened third with $9.3 million; Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's A24 Elizabeth Holmes documentary "You Can See Everything" took fourth with $8.9 million in weekend 4 ($79.8 million cumulative); Sony Pictures' Hindi epic "Ramayana: Rise of a Legend" opened fifth with $8.7 million domestically and $32 million in India; Laika and Travis Knight's $100 million stop-motion "Wildwood" placed sixth with $7 million in weekend 3 (down 22% for $39.8 million cumulative); "Clayface" earned $6.7 million in seventh; Martin McDonagh's Searchlight Pictures release "Wild Horse Nine" starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell opened eighth with $6 million across 1,100 domestic theaters and $6.6 million internationally; "Stray Kids" live viewing grossed $3.7 million in ninth; and "Wicker" earned $3.4 million in 10th, while limited releases saw Jordan Firstman's A24 film "Club Kid" average $65,097 across 6 screens and Peter Farrelly's Amazon MGM film "I Play Rocky" average $49,200 across 7 theaters.