While Godzilla’s been busy in American movies and TV, with 2024 promising the return of the iconic kaiju in both Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and the Apple TV Plus series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, there hasn’t been a live-action Japanese Godzilla movie in awhile. The last one was 2016’s Shin Godzilla, which was the highest-grossing Japanese-language entry in the franchise to date. And now, the green guy is back in Godzilla Minus One, which just got its first full trailer.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the man behind Space Battleship Yamato, this is actually a prequel with it taking place in post-WW2 Japan. This an interesting approach, as the original Godzilla movies were always seen as a reaction to both the American occupation and an allegory for the hydrogen bomb. The series has spawned 37 films over four different eras: the Shōwa era, the Heisei era, the Millennium era, and the Reiwa era. If you’re not a Godzilla expert and want to dig into the franchise a little more, check out our exhaustive ranking of the series we did back when Godzilla vs. Kong came out.
Godzilla Minus One is set to premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival on November 1st and hits theatres in Japan two days later, kicking off celebrations for the character’s 70th anniversary in 2024 (you can also buy all your Godzilla merch at Toho’s official store). North American audiences won’t have to wait too long, as Toho International is set to release it here on December 1st.
Are you looking forward to Godzilla Minus One? Let us know in the comments!