The "King of the Monsters" Godzilla made a triumphant return to movie theaters this weekend, and it looks as though the monster is making his presence very known.  Director Gareth Edwards’ new film Godzilla scored a huge $38.5 million on Friday, which puts the film on track for an incredibly impressive $98 million debut.  That’s way above the pre-release predictions, and the film could topple the superhero debuts of Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95 million) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91.6 million) earlier this year.  Though some are inexplicably complaining that the film isn’t two hours of non-stop CG-overload, reviews for Godzilla are generally positive, and it appears that the excellent marking campaign brought in considerable interest.

Check out Friday’s full box office report after the jump.

This week’s other new release, the sports drama Million Dollar Arm, pulled in $3.5 million on Friday in fourth place and is on track for a disappointing $10 million plus debut.  The feel-good drama hasn’t exactly been drawing in big buzz despite Jon Hamm in the lead, and reviews have been mixed.  Last week’s champ Neighbors, meanwhile, eyes an impressive hold with $8.4 million on Friday for second place and a projected $26 million weekend, and it’s expected to best The Amazing Spider-Man 2 once again as Sony’s superhero sequel brought in $4.5 million on Friday and is on track for a projected $16.1 million weekend.  That brings the film’s full domestic total on Sunday to around $171 million.  By comparison, the first film had made $228 million by its third weekend, though it also enjoyed three extra days in theaters ahead of the July 4th weekend.

Check out the Friday Top 5 below, and come back on Sunday for the full box office report.