Toho released a new Godzilla film, titled Godzilla Minus One (read our review HERE), in Japan on November 3rd, which happens to be Godzilla Day – the anniversary of the 1954 release of the original Godzilla movie. The film made its way over to the United States on December 1st, and has quickly become the highest grossing live-action Japanese film in North America. There was a rumor going around that the film had a budget of $15 million – but director Takashi Yamazaki has since spoken up and said he wished he had that much to work with, because the budget was actually lower. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Godzilla Minus One‘s success were to lead to a sequel… and Yamazaki says he would like to direct one!
As of this writing, Godzilla Minus One has earned $26 million at the Japan box office and another $26 million from other territories, so it’s currently at $52 million.
Sanspo reported that Yamazaki said, “I’ve always wanted to make a Godzilla movie, so this was the moment when my dream of 50 years came true. But I’m going to miss it… I wonder if I could make one more film.” (With thanks to online translators.)
Written and directed by Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One sees an already devastated postwar Japan facing a new threat in the form of Godzilla. Interestingly, one of Yamazaki’s previous credits is the 2007 film Always: Sunset on Third Street 2, which features a Godzilla cameo in a fantasy sequence.
The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki, with music by Naoki Sato.
Toho’s Koji Ueda has said, “Set in a post-war Japan, Godzilla Minus One will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force, which you already get a sense of from the teaser trailer and poster. The concept is that Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country into the ‘minus.’“
Yamazaki directed a trilogy of Always: Sunset on Third Street films, as well as Juvenile, Returner, Ballad, Space Battleship Yamato, Friends: Naki on the Monster Island, The Fighter Pilot, Stand by Me Doraemon, Stand by Me Doraemon 2 (with Ryuichi Yagi), Parasyte: Part 1 and 2, Fueled: The Man They Called ‘Pirate’, Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura, The Great War of Archimedes, Dragon Quest: Your Story, Lupin III: The First, and Ghost Book Obakezukan.
Toho brought Godzilla Minus One to the states in its original Japanese version, with English subtitles. The film secured a PG-13 rating for its U.S. release. This is Toho’s 33rd film in the franchise. The most recent entries were the 2016 live-action film Shin Godzilla and a trilogy of animated features; Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater. While Toho sends this one out into the world, Legendary is keeping their own Godzilla MonsterVerse alive with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (which is set to reach theatres on March 15, 2024) and the Apple TV+ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters.
If Toho were to let Yamazaki make a Godzilla Minus One sequel, it would be the first sequel in their franchise since 2002’s Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla received the direct follow-up Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. in 2003. While the Godzilla films released in the Shōwa era had some connection to each other, and same for the films in the Heisei era, (most of) the films released during the Millennium era and the current Reiwa era have been designed to be standalone entries.
Would you like to see a Godzilla Minus One sequel? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.