Godzilla Minus One (Japanese: ゴジラ-1.0マイナスワン, Hepburn: Gojira Mainasu Wan) is a 2023 Japanese kaiju film directed, written, and with visual effects by Takashi Yamazaki. Produced by Toho Studios and Robot and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, Toho’s 33rd Godzilla film, and the fifth film in the franchise’s Reiwa era. The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki. In the film, postwar Japan deals with the emergence of Godzilla.
Following the release of his film The Great War of Archimedes (2019), Yamazaki was selected to make a Godzilla film. He subsequently wrote the script over the course of three years, taking influence from the original 1954 Godzilla film and Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001). The film would be Yamazaki’s third on-screen depiction of Godzilla, as he had previously used Godzilla through computer-generated imagery in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007) and Godzilla the Ride (2021) at Seibu-en Amusement Park. In February 2022, Robot publicized that Yamazaki was soon to begin directing a kaiju film via a casting call on their website. Filming occurred primarily in Kantō and Chūbu from March to June 2022. Shirogumi handled the visual effects at their studio in Chōfu from circa April 2022 to May 2023.
Godzilla Minus One had its premiere screening at the Shinjuku Toho Building on October 18, 2023, and was the closing film at the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival on November 1, 2023. Toho released it theatrically in Japan on November 3, the same day as the first film was released throughout Japan in 1954, to celebrate the franchise’s 70th anniversary. The film has grossed ¥1 billion and received critical acclaim in Japan, with many considering it to be one of the best Godzilla films. Toho’s American subsidiary Toho International will later distribute it in the United States and Canada on December 1.
The VFX is made by:
Shirogumi
The Production VFX Supervisor is Takashi Yamazaki.
Director – Takashi Yamazaki
Release Date – December 1, 2023 – Japan
