‘Godzilla’ roars with $9.3 million Thursday night

“Godzilla” is already invading the box-office in a big way.

The $160-million monster movie from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures racked up a studio-estimated $9.3 million in Thursday night preview showings in 3,400 theaters.

In its full 3,950-theater run this weekend, the Gareth Edwards-directed film is expected to generate at least $70 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada.

For comparison, the summer superhero tent-pole “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” snatched $8.7 million from Thursday night showings and went on to a three-day debut of nearly $92 million. The reboot/sequel has grossed more than $150 million domestically, plus more than $400 million from overseas, for a worldwide total of more than $550 million.

“Godzilla,” which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen and Bryan Cranston, is rated PG-13 and is showing in 3-D and IMAX. Thursday previews from IMAX screenings generated $2.1 million.

Also getting its wide release this weekend is Disney’s underdog baseball tale “Million Dollar Arm,” starring Jon Hamm, which is expected to gross $10 million or so through Sunday.