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Counting down to Takashi Yamazaki’s next film
Photo: Toho Company/Everett Collection
Toho International announced last year that Godzilla Minus One writer-director Takashi Yamazaki would be making another movie in the kaiju franchise, which wasn’t exactly surprising given the film was a massive global success. During the Godzilla Day celebration in Tokyo on Nov. 3, they provided a minimalist update, revealing a black-and-white logo and the name of the sequel: Godzilla Minus Zero.
The 2023 film was effectively a reimagining of the original 1954 Godzilla, which was a meditation on scientific hubris and the impact of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Focusing on failed kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) and Japan trying to hold onto what it’s rebuilt since the war, Godzilla Minus One is more somber than the at times absurdist 2016 film Shin Godzilla from Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.
But both films are highly nationalistic, arguing that Japan can’t rely on the United States to defend it from threats and should form its own alliances and responsibly remilitarize. Yamazaki will also serve as VFX supervisor for Godzilla Minus Zero, bringing back the low-budget, high-impact special effects that allowed him to beat out Hollywood films with much bigger budgets at the 2024 Oscars.
No plot details have been revealed for Godzilla Minus Zero. According to The Hollywood Reporter, filming will be ramping up in Norway and New Zealand later this year and the studio plans to release Godzilla Minus Zero in late 2026. Godzilla Minus One ended with a cliffhanger, showing Godzilla seeming to regenerate even after he was torn apart by a heat ray. Shikishima’s girlfriend managed to miraculously survive a Godzilla attack, but had an ominous, creeping bruise. The monster’s return and lingering impact on those he’s come into contact with would provide fertile ground for the followup.
A 2026 release date makes sense, given the deal between Toho and Legendary Pictures means they can’t have competing films in the same year. Godzilla x Kong: Supernova is slated for 2027 and will definitely be a far sillier movie.