is a 2023 Japanese

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

kaiju is a Japanese media genre that focuses on stories involving giant monsters. The word ''kaiju'' can also refer to the giant monsters themselves, which are usually depicted attacking major cities and battling either the military or other monster ...

'' film written, directed, and with visual effects by

Takashi Yamazaki is a Japanese visual effects artist, television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. He won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Director of the Year, Director of the Year and Japan Academy Film Prize for Screenplay of the Year, Screenplay o ...

. Produced by

Toho Studios is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...

and

Robot Communications is a Japanese production and visual effects studio founded on June 3, 1986, and based in Tokyo. It won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for ''La Maison en Petits Cubes''. Productions * ''July 7th, Sunny Day'' (1996) * ''Par ...

and distributed by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

, 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 is a Japanese actress. She is known for her breakout role in the popular live-action film '' Let Me Eat Your Pancreas''. Biography Minami started off her career by winning the New Generation Award at the ''7th Toho Cinderella Audition''. She ha ...

, Yuki Yamada,

Munetaka Aoki is a Japanese actor. He played Sanosuke Sagara in the live action adaptation of the manga and anime series ''Rurouni Kenshin''. He is married to Japanese actress and model Yūka. Filmography Film *''Battle Royale II'' (2003) *''Fly, Daddy, F ...

Hidetaka Yoshioka is a Japanese actor known for his performance in several movies as a child and lately the award-winning TV drama Dr. Coto's Clinic. He notably played the part of Tora-san's little nephew in the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" film series, and he appeared ...

Sakura Ando is a Japanese actress. Career Ando won the award for Best Supporting Actress at the 31st Yokohama Film Festival 2010 for ''Love Exposure'', ''The Wonderful World of Captain Kuhio'' and ''Tsumitoka batsutoka''. She was also nominated for the aw ...

and

Kuranosuke Sasaki is a Japanese actor, known primary for his roles in Japanese television drama. Biography He was born into a family of a sake brewery in Kyoto, Japan. After graduating from Kobe University and resigning from an advertising agency, he played an ...

. Set in

postwar Japan Post-occupation Japan is the period in postwar Japanese history which started when the Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952 and lasted to the end of the Showa era in 1989. Despite the massive devastation it suffered in the Second World War, ...

, it follows a former ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' pilot suffering from

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

after encountering a giant monster known as "

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

". After finishing his film ''

The Great War of Archimedes ''The Great War of Archimedes'' (アルキメデスの大戦, Arukimedesu no taisen) is a 2019 Japanese historical film about the building of the battleship ''Japanese battleship Yamato, Yamato''. Based on a manga by Norifusa Mita, the movie is a ...

'' (2019), Yamazaki was appointed to make a ''Godzilla'' film. He spent three years writing the script, taking influence from ''

'' (1954), '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001), ''

Shin Godzilla is a 2016 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay by Anno and visual effects by Higuchi. Produced by Toho Pictures and Cine Bazar and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the 31st film in the '' ...

'' (2016), and the films of

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

and

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

. Yamazaki previously depicted Godzilla in '' Always: Sunset on Third Street 2'' (2007) and a 2021 amusement park ride at

Seibu-en is an amusement park located near Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. It is just outside the Seibuen-yūenchi Station, which is also owned and operated by the Seibu Railway. The park underwent a significant expansion and redesign for the 2 ...

. In February 2022, Robot publicized that Yamazaki would soon begin directing a ''kaiju'' film. Filming occurred primarily in Kantō and Chūbu from March to June 2022.

Shirogumi , member of The Association of Japanese Animations, is a company centralized in the production of animated series and feature films, as well as the making and adjusting of visual effects. History In 1973, Tatsuo Shimamura established . To expan ...

Chōfu is a city in the western side of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 238,087, and a population density of 11,000 per km². the total area of the city is . Geography Chōfu is approximately in the south-center of ...

studio spent eight months creating the film's visual effects. ''Godzilla Minus One'' premiered at the

Shinjuku Toho Building is a building in Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It features , a theater run Toho's subsidiary by Toho Cinemas and the Godzilla head on the terrace of its Hotel Gracery. See also * Godzilla head * Godzilla Street Godzilla Street is a s ...

on October 18, 2023, and was released in Japan on November 3, to celebrate the franchise's 70th anniversary. Toho International later released it in North America on December 1. The film has grossed almost worldwide on an estimated budget, becoming the third-highest-grossing Japanese film of 2023 and surpassing ''Shin Godzilla'' as the most successful Japanese ''Godzilla'' film. Critics praised its visual effects, direction, screenplay, characters, musical score, and social commentary, with many hailing it as one of the best films of 2023 and among the greatest in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. It also attained numerous accolades, including a leading 12 nominations at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize (winning eight), three nominations at the 17th Asian Film Awards (winning two), and winning Best Visual Effects at the

96th Academy Awards The 96th Academy Awards is an upcoming ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which will honor the best 2023 in film, films of 2023, and is expected to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Ange ...

Plot

In 1945, near the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ''

'' pilot Kōichi Shikishima lands his

Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-based aircraft, carrier-based fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 19 ...

at the Japanese base on Odo Island. Lead mechanic Sōsaku Tachibana deduces that Shikishima had fled from his duty by feigning technical issues. That night,

, a large dinosaur-like creature, attacks the garrison. Shikishima freezes up and cannot bring himself to shoot the monster from his plane and is knocked unconscious. Tachibana, the only other survivor of the attack, blames Shikishima for failing to act. Crossroads Baker

Shikishima returns home to find his parents were killed in the

bombing of Tokyo The was a series of firebombing air raids by the United States Army Air Force during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. Operation Meetinghouse, which was conducted on the night of 9–10 March 1945, is the single most destructive bombing ...

. Plagued by

survivor's guilt Survivor guilt (or survivor's guilt; also called survivor syndrome or survivor's syndrome and survivor disorder or survivor's disorder) is a mental condition that occurs when a person believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumati ...

, he begins supporting a woman, Noriko Ōishi, whose parents also died in the bombing, and an orphaned baby, Akiko, whom Noriko rescued, and finds employment aboard a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

tasked with disposing of

naval mines A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

from World War II. Meanwhile, Godzilla is mutated and empowered by the United States'

nuclear tests Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine nuclear weapons' effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability. Testing nuclear weapons offers practical information about how the weapons function, how detonations are affected by ...

Bikini Atoll Bikini Atoll ( or ; Marshallese: , , meaning "coconut place"), sometimes known as Eschscholtz Atoll between the 1800s and 1946 is a coral reef in the Marshall Islands consisting of 23 islands surrounding a central lagoon. After the Second ...

; it sinks USS ''Redfish'' and destroys several other ships en route to Japan. Owing to tensions with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, the U.S. offers no help save for a few decommissioned

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

vessels approved by General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

. The Japanese government, concerned about inducing panic, does not notify the public about the danger. In May 1947, Shikishima and his minesweeper crew travel to the

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

and are tasked with stalling Godzilla's approach to Japan. They release a mine into Godzilla's mouth and detonate it, causing significant damage, but it quickly regenerates. The

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

'' Takao'' then engages Godzilla, but is subsequently destroyed when Godzilla unleashes its heat ray. After returning to Tokyo, Shikishima opens up to Noriko about his encounters with Godzilla. Days later, Godzilla makes landfall in Japan and attacks

Ginza Ginza ( ; ja, 銀座 ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo, with numerous intern ...

, where Noriko works. Noriko narrowly survives the initial attack and reunites with Shikishima. Enraged by tank fire, Godzilla obliterates much of the district with its heat ray, killing tens of thousands. Noriko is caught in the blast, dead. Devastated by her loss, Shikishima vows revenge. Frustrated by the government's inaction, one of the minesweeper's crew, former naval engineer Kenji Noda, devises a plan to destroy Godzilla by luring it out to

Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the ...

before surrounding it with

Freon Freon ( ) is a registered trademark of the Chemours Company and generic descriptor for a number of halocarbon products. They are stable, nonflammable, low toxicity gases or liquids which have generally been used as refrigerants and as aerosol prop ...

tanks and rupturing them, lowering the water's buoyancy and sinking it, letting the resultant water pressure crush it. Should the plan fail, balloons will be inflated under Godzilla to force it back up, killing it through

explosive decompression Uncontrolled decompression is an unplanned drop in the pressure of a sealed system, such as an aircraft cabin or hyperbaric chamber, and typically results from human error, material fatigue, engineering failure, or impact, causing a pressure vesse ...

. To enact his plan, Noda has recruited navy veterans to crew disarmed IJN

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. Shikishima recruits Tachibana to repair a broken-down Kyushu J7W ''Shinden'' fighter, for luring godzilla to Sagami Bay. He presumes denotating bombs in godzilla's mouth would only work, plans to kill Godzilla in a suicide attack by flying into its mouth and detonating the explosive charges on board. He leaves Akiko in the care of his neighbor Sumiko before Godzilla resurfaces. As Shikishima lures Godzilla to the trap set by two destroyers, Sumiko receives a telegram intended for Shikishima. Godzilla survives the initial plunge and then breaks free before being forced back up, sustaining serious injuries from the resultant decompression-induced

barotrauma Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in pressure between a gas space inside, or contact with, the body and the surrounding gas or liquid. The initial damage is usually due to over-stretching the tissues in tensio ...

. With the help of a fleet of

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s, the ships haul Godzilla to the surface. An enraged Godzilla prepares to destroy all the vessels with its heat ray, but Shikishima crashes the plane into Godzilla's mouth and destroys its head, causing the energy of the heat ray to tear its body apart. The crew celebrates as Shikishima ejects before the explosion and parachutes to safety, Tachibana showed him an

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the aircraft pilot, pilot or other aircrew, crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an ex ...

that he installed in the ''Shinden'', ask him to let go of his guilt and live for Akiko. Upon returning home, Sumiko gives Shikishima the telegram, which leads him to a hospital where he reunites with Noriko, who survived the destruction but has a black bruise creeping up her neck. Meanwhile, a chunk of Godzilla's flesh begins to regenerate as it sinks into the ocean.

Cast

* Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi Shikishima, a former ''

'' pilot *

as Noriko Ōishi, Shikishima's girlfriend * Yuki Yamada as Shirō Mizushima, a young crewman aboard the ''Shinsei Maru'' *

as Sōsaku Tachibana, former Navy Air Service technician *

as Kenji Noda, a former Naval weapons engineer *

as Sumiko Ōta, Shikishima's neighbor *

as Yōji Akitsu, captain of the ''Shinsei Maru'' * Sae Nagatani as Akiko, Ōishi and Shikishima's adopted daughter * Miou Tanaka as Tatsuo Hotta, captain of the destroyer '' Yukikaze'' *

Yuya Endo is a Japanese actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Ryoma Echizen in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical series (commonly known as ''Tenimyu''). He was also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which perform in various sk ...

as Tadamasa Saitō The cast listing is sourced from ''

Kinema Junpo , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

''.

Production

Crew

– director, writer,

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects. While it is a creative role, most supervisors possess a st ...

* Kiyoko Shibuya – visual effects director * Kōhei Adachi – assistant director * – lighting * – art director * Masahiro Ishiyama – colorist * Shō Funahashi – co-visual effects director * Masaki Takahashi – CG director * Tatsuji Nojima – compositor and ocean effects creator * Kosuke Taguchi –

modeler * Hisashi Takeuchi – sound recording * Natsuko Inoue – sound effectsPersonnel are taken from ''

'' and '.

Development

In July 2016, Toho Co., Ltd. released a reboot of the ''Godzilla'' franchise, titled ''

''. It became critically and commercially successful, leading director

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotio ...

to create two other ''

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

'' reboot films: ''

Shin Ultraman is a 2022 Japanese superhero ''kaiju'' film directed by Shinji Higuchi and written, co-produced, and co-edited by Hideaki Anno. A reimagining of ''Ultraman'', the film is a co-production between Toho Studios and Cine Bazar, and presented by ...

'' (2022) and ''Shin Kamen Rider'' (2023). According to ''Godzilla Minus One'' producer Kenji Yamada, Toho had planned several live-action ''Godzilla'' films in the wake of ''Shin Godzilla'''s success, but all were canceled as they felt none of them were worthy follow-ups. In 2017, ''Shin Godzilla'' co-director

Shinji Higuchi is a Japanese filmmaker and storyboard artist. He is one of the most successful Japanese filmmakers and the top ''tokusatsu'' film director. Higuchi became known for his work on '' Gamera: Guardian of the Universe'', for which he won the Specia ...

stated at the American

fan convention Fan convention (also known as con or fan meeting), a term that predates 1942, is an event in which fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some ...

G-Fest G-Fest, often typeset as G-FEST, is an annual Fan convention, convention devoted to the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' film franchise and other ''kaiju'' (literally ''strange beast'', also the name of the genre of Japanese giant monster movie ...

that Toho would not be able to produce another ''Godzilla'' film until after 2020; this was due to their contract with

Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...

, who were producing their own ''Godzilla'' films, that forbade Toho from releasing their potential ''Godzilla'' films in the same year as Legendary's films. In 2018, Toho executive Keiji Ota revealed that ''Shin Godzilla'' would not receive a sequel and expressed interest in a potential

shared universe A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

''Godzilla'' series akin to the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

. In 2019, Toho began a "Godzilla Room" division, devoted to planning new ''Godzilla'' projects. Following the completion of his film ''

'' that same year, producer Minami Ichikawa appointed renowned filmmaker

to make a ''Godzilla'' film. He began preparing the project and initially spent one year developing the script. However, the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

forced the crew to postpone filming for a few years, leading to the script being rewritten several times over the course of three years. ''Godzilla Minus One'' is Yamazaki's third time working on a production utilizing Godzilla. His first is '' Always: Sunset on Third Street 2'' (2007), which features the monster in a dream-like opening. During preproduction on ''Godzilla Minus One'', he also directed and created the effects for Seibu-en Amusement Park's

motion simulator A motion simulator or motion platform is a mechanism that creates the feelings of being in a real motion environment. In a simulator, the movement is synchronised with a visual display of the outside world (OTW) scene. Motion platforms can provi ...

attraction ''Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monsters Ultimate Battle'' (2021). On February 18, 2022,

announced the film, with the working title , via a casting call on its official website. Robot stated Yamazaki would direct and that the film would be presented by Toho. The next day, ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'' writer Kenji Ando mentioned the conjecture from fans on social media whether the film would be a remake of the 1954 film. Ando also noted that it is a period piece set in

between 1945 and 1947, citing Yamazaki's comments from an interview regarding his depiction of Godzilla in ''Always: Sunset on Third Street 2'': "You can't have Godzilla unless it's the ''Shōwa'' era". Toho declared that Yamazaki's unnamed ''

'' project is a ''Godzilla'' film on November 3, 2022, at an event celebrating the franchise's 68th anniversary known as "Godzilla Day". The company also revealed that the film had completed filming and had entered post-production with a targeted release date of November 3, 2023. Yamazaki was named the film's writer and

. During a press conference on December 13, 2022, Toho's head of planning Hisashi Usui implied that the new film is connected to the 1954 film. In the July 2023 press release that also revealed the film's title, teaser, and poster, Yamazaki regaled his pitch and vision for the film: Toho filed a trademark for the Japanese title on the same day as the press release, also registering its various alternative readings such as . The English-Japanese title for ''Godzilla Minus One'' was conceived by producer Shūji Abe, and Yamazaki believes Abe took influence from 's

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel '. The title, according to the director, has multiple meanings, explicitly referring to how Godzilla's destruction changed Japan's position from a "post-war zero situation" to a "minus"; when mentioning other possible reasons for the title, Yamazaki mentioned that the film takes place before the original 1954 ''Godzilla'' film and that it emphasizes the theme of loss throughout.

Writing and influences

Yamazaki said that the worldwide anxiety and government unreliability during the COVID-19 pandemic was one of his major inspirations for the story and that he hopes these events are reflected clearly in the finished film. He steered clear of setting the film in modern Japan and having to draw inspiration from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster as he believed it would become too similar to ''Shin Godzilla'' (2016). Instead, Yamazaki decided to set the film in

, allowing ''Godzilla Minus One'' to explore

anti-nuclear The anti-nuclear movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, natio ...

and

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

themes, as well as the themes of trauma, hope, guilt, and redemption. He also stated that Godzilla symbolizes the Japanese perspective of

nuclear holocaust A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenar ...

, akin to the original 1954 ''Godzilla'' film. Yamazaki decided to include the heavy cruiser ''Takao'', ''Shinden'' fighter, destroyers ''Yukikaze'' and '' Hibiki'' because he likes military history and had never depicted them before. During the writing of the screenplay, he wanted to leave a sequel open, feeling that "It's more cinematic if it doesn't end neatly and properly" and commented, "It's not just so a sequel can be made, it's also so the characters are kept alive in the hearts of the audience". Yamazaki was inspired by

Shusuke Kaneko is a Japanese filmmaker. Life and career Shūsuke Kaneko was born in Tokyo on June 8, 1955. According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age. ...

's '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001)—which he has cited as one of his favorite ''Godzilla'' films—while writing the screenplay for ''Godzilla Minus One''. At its screening, he reflected in a discussion with Kaneko: "I had forgotten the contents of ''GMK'' for a while, but it seems like I self-consciously thought about it when writing the scenario for ''-1.0''. Without realizing it, I was under considerable influence". He also stated that ''Godzilla Minus One'' was also heavily influenced by the 1954 film, ''Shin Godzilla'' (2016),

's ''

Jaws Jaws or Jaw may refer to: Anatomy * Jaw, an opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth ** Mandible, the lower jaw Arts, entertainment, and media * Jaws (James Bond), a character in ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' and ''Moonraker'' * ...

'' (1975) and ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' (2005), and the films of

. ''

'' (2014) director

Gareth Edwards Sir Gareth Owen Edwards CBE (born 12 July 1947) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey". In 2003, in a poll of international ru ...

identified Spielberg's films ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'' (1977) and ''

Jurassic Park ''Jurassic Park'', later also referred to as ''Jurassic World'', is an American science fiction media franchise created by Michael Crichton and centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. It began in 1990 when ...

'' (1993), and

Christopher Nolan Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Cinema of the United States, Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. ...

's ''

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France. A

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film, written by Yamazaki, was published in Japan by

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

on November 8, 2023. According to Yamazaki, the novel features a scene set on Odo Island that he proposed for the film but was left unfilmed, since Toho refused to allow him to do pick-ups.

Casting

Yamazaki sought to cast talented individuals who were able to give convincing performances of people living during the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

and could make Godzilla's presence in the film seem more realistic. His casting decisions were influenced little by the previous ''Godzilla'' films, since this movie was about the lives of ordinary Japanese in the 1940s rather than politicians, bureaucrats, scientists, and the Self-Defense Forces. The reason for this was that Yamazaki wanted audiences to empathize with and connect with the characters despite the post-war setting. During preproduction, producer Minami Ichikawa offered Ryunosuke Kamiki and

to play the film's leads, Kōichi Shikishima and Noriko Ōishi, prior to them playing similar roles in the

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

drama series '' Ranman'' (2023). According to Yamazaki, the media criticized this casting, believing it would be too similar to their roles in ''Ranman'', when announced the two would star in the film at a press conference on September 4, 2023. Yamazaki also revealed that he cast

as Captain Yōji Akitsu because of his performances in ''

Asadora , colloquially known as , is a serialized, 15 minutes per episode, Japanese television drama program series broadcast in the mornings by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The first such series aired in 1961 with the black-and-white , starring Take ...

'' such as ''

Hiyokko is a Japanese television drama series and the 96th asadora series, following '' Beppinsan''. It was premiered on April 3, 2017, and ended on September 30, 2017. Plot Mineko Yatabe is a teenager living in a very rural area of Ibaraki Prefecture i ...

'' (2017), which had a major influence on him. One of the producers approached

about playing the role of Shikishima's neighbor prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, but she had to wait several years to play the role. However, when she finally got the chance to act, the producer suggested that she choose between playing in the film or

Hirokazu Kore-eda is a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor. He began his career in television and has since directed more than a dozen feature films, including '' Nobody Knows'' (2004), '' Still Walking'' (2008), and '' After the Storm'' ( ...

's ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'' since they were being filmed simultaneously. Refusing to make an appearance in just one of the films, Ando said she "fought for it and in the end I got to be in both". Ōishi and Shikishima's adopted daughter Akiko was originally planned to be a boy. After meeting two-year-old

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

Sae Nagatani, however, Yamazaki decided to change this in order for her to play the role. When questioned how he managed to get Nagatani to cry for some scenes, the director responded "I found a genius".

Design

The design of Godzilla in ''Minus One'' is a variation of the one in ''Godzilla the Ride''. Inspired by the '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' design, Yamazaki initially envisioned his design having "half-moon shaped eyes", but modeling head Kosuke Taguchi gave it "almond-shaped" ones instead, with the final design having "golden, almond-shaped eyes". Yamazaki also elaborate that since the crew created this Godzilla in digital form: "it allowed for much more detail than what was possible with any type of handcrafted version. So we were able to increase the resolution of the scales, for example, and make them feel really, really sharp and give it this aggressive texture. And in terms of the bottom half of Godzilla, we made it feel very heavy and dense in a way that made the viewer feel like this mountain and triangular silhouette was walking and moving through a space." Yamazaki attempted to make this Godzilla the most horrifying version yet. The crew designed Godzilla to be ferocious, violent, and dynamic, with a static, god-like aspect. Its dorsal fins were made more "spiky and ferocious" than the incarnation in ''Godzilla the Ride'', as if its regenerative energy had become disorderly. Yamazaki stated that the team also tried to make Godzilla the "deadliest in history" adding that it is "discerning today, experiencing the freshness and fear felt by audiences at the time".

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place on location in the Kantō and Chūbu (in the

Aichi is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectu ...

and

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

prefectures) regions of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

, starting on March 17, 2022, and

wrapping Wrapping may refer to: *Buddy wrapping, the act of bandaging a damaged (particularly a fractured) finger or toe together with a healthy one *Overwrap, a wrapping of items in a package of a wrapping over packaging *Wrapping (graphics), the process ...

circa June 11. According to Robot's website, the film would be set between 1945 and 1947, so there would be restrictions on the extras' costume sizes, hairstyles (declaring that long-haired men would require perms), and hair colors (declaring that hair dyeing would not be allowed). The film's maritime sequences were filmed at

Lake Hamana is a brackish lagoon in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Formerly a true lake, it is now connected to the Pacific Ocean by a channel. As an internal body of water, it is considered Japan's tenth-largest lake (by area). It spans the boundaries of the ...

and in the

Enshū Sea Enshū Sea () is the sea area from Cape Irōzaki in Shizuoka Prefecture to Cape Daiō in Mie Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Mie Prefecture has a population of 1,781,948 () and has a geographic area ...

. Between April and June 2022, several community businesses near the

Tenryū River The is a river in central Honshū, Japan. With a length of , it is Japan's ninth longest river. Its source is Lake Suwa in the Kiso Mountains near Okaya, Nagano, Okaya in Nagano Prefecture. It then flows through Aichi Prefecture and western Shi ...

helped the crew modify and maintain boats to shoot navy scenes in Enshū. Other shooting locations include the City Hall in

Okaya, Nagano is a city located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,616 in 19,257 households, and a population density of 570 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Okaya is located in central Nag ...

, the Tsukuba Naval Air Group Memorial Museum in Kasama, the Former Kashima Naval Air Base Site in

Miho is a feminine Japanese given name and a masculine Croatian name. It can have many different meanings in Japanese depending on the kanji used. Possible Japanese writings Miho can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *実穂, " ...

, and the Shimodate General Sports Park in Chikusei. During production, scenes featuring the Kyushu J7W ''Shinden'' were partly realized through the construction of a 1:1 scale replica of the aircraft, of which only a single example exists and is located outside Japan in the collection of the

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, also called the Udvar-Hazy Center, is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)'s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in the Chantilly area of Fairfax County, Virginia. It holds numerous e ...

Chantilly, Virginia Chantilly is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Fairfax County, Virginia. The population was 24,301 as of the 2020 census. Chantilly is named after an early-19th-century mansion and farm, which in turn took the name of an 18th-century p ...

. Yamazaki noted that "Initially, the budget didn't allow for any portion of the irplaneto be built" but "thinking outside the box, having a plan B, we were able to find a museum that was willing to purchase the prop after the film was made, which offset the production budget it would have taken to produce the plane in the first place". Thus, following the completion of shooting, the replica was transported to and put on display at the

Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum The is a peace museum located in the city of Asakura, Fukuoka, Japan. Access The museum is located near Tachiarai Station on the Amagi Railway Amagi Line, approximately 1 hour from central Fukuoka. Aircraft on display * Mitsubishi A6M3 Type 0 ...

Chikuzen, Fukuoka is a town located in Asakura District, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of March 31, 2017, the town has an estimated population of 29,617 and a density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of ...

in July 2022. Toho donated the replica under anonymity, only revealing their involvement in the construction of the model after ''Godzilla Minus One'' released.

Visual effects

All 610 of the film's visual effect shots were handled by a crew of 35 artists at

studio, under the

supervision Supervision is an act or instance of directing, managing, or oversight. Etymology The English noun "supervision" derives from the two Latin words "super" (above) and "videre" (see, observe). Spelling The spelling is "Supervision" in Standard E ...

of Yamazaki and direction of Kiyoko Shibuya. According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', between a quarter and a third of the film's budget was spent on visual effects. Eight months were spent on creating the visual effects. A TV Shinshu special about Yamazaki released in 2023 indicated that the team began creating the effects for the film in July 2022. Shirogumi revealed by opening a recruitment call for visual effects designers and compositors in August 2022, that post-production had begun and visual effects were taking place from that same month until January 2023; they later changed the dates to between November 2022 and February 2023. Their website named the 3D animation software

Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

and

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

for design and

Nuke Nuke is most commonly used as a slang term for a nuclear weapon, or the act of detonating/setting one off. Nuke may also refer to: Computing * Nuke (software), a node-based compositor * Nuke (video games), a type of damaging attack that is mos ...

for compositing. Yamazaki had made a 3D maquette design on ZBrush, with Taguchi augmenting the design by adding his own elements, including the insertion of polygons and rendering displacement maps using

Redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in f ...

. Then, the team retopologized the maquette design and finalized the displacement maps with

Mudbox Mudbox is a proprietary computer-based 3D sculpting and painting tool. developed by Autodesk, Mudbox was created by Skymatter, founded by Tibor Madjar, David Cardwell and Andrew Camenisch, former artists of Weta Digital, where it was first us ...

. After the visual effects were finished, post-production concluded in late May 2023. The ocean sequences were originally not intended to be as sizeable in the film until compositor Tatsuji Nojima, who composes computer-generated water at home as a hobby, presented Yamazaki with some of his own water simulations, inspiring the director to rewrite its climax and include more scenes set at sea. The team strived creating these sequences, especially Godzilla's destruction scene. Yamazaki reflected that "It put a huge strain on all of our rendering engines, so we created so much data in the process that when we added it all up it was easily over a petabyte. In the end, we erased the data from the scene where it was done, and made it while opening the hard disk." Yamazaki admitted to

, co-director and effects director of ''

'', that the film's destruction sequences and on-screen deaths were inspired by the Shibuya sequence in '' Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris''; Higuchi had also directed that film's effects. Some of the characters present on-screen during Godzilla's rampage were created using Houdini; around 60 extras were 3D scanned to be replaced by a digital duplicate. He also paid homage to previous ''Godzilla'' films by not using any "muscle simulation" for the monster and employed miniatures to depict the post-war Tokyo townscape, which is a traditional Japanese special effect (or ''tokusatsu'') technique.

Music and sound effects

Yamazaki's frequent collaborator

Naoki Satō is a Japanese composer who has provided the music for several popular anime series including the first five ''Pretty Cure'' series, '' X'', ''Eureka Seven'', ''Sword of the Stranger'', and ''Blood-C''. He graduated from the Tokyo College of Mus ...

scored the film. released '' Godzilla Minus One Original Soundtrack'', on CD in Japan on October 28, 2023, with a limited edition

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl m ...

following on November 24. On January 19, 2024, Toho announced that

Waxwork Records Waxwork Records is an American independent record label. It has released film scores and movie soundtracks on vinyl as well as comics. History Waxwork Records was founded in 2013 by Kevin Bergeron and Sue Ellen Soto. By 2015, it had re-re ...

is set to release the score on vinyl, with pre-ordering starting that same day. When composing the score, Satō took inspiration from

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and ha ...

's anime movies for the poignant scenes and the music of

Akira Ifukube was a Japanese classical and film music composer, best known for his works on the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born on 31 May 1914 in Kushiro, Japan as the third son of a police officer Toshimi ...

to accentuate the ''

'' sequences. He also

remade Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is inf ...

some of Ifukube's tracks from ''Godzilla'' (1954), ''

King Kong vs. Godzilla is a 1962 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'' franchises, as well as the first T ...

'' (1962) and ''

Mothra vs. Godzilla is a 1964 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho, Toho Co., Ltd., it is the fourth film in the Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchise. The film stars Ak ...

'' (1964) for some scenes. Natsuko Inoue handled the sound effects. She felt it was her mission to recreate the original Godzilla's roar using a modern sound system. Having tried many methods to keep the sound intact, Inoue decided that it wasn't strong enough, so she opted to record outdoors and use the echoes to enhance it. She decided to play the roar at the

ZOZO Marine Stadium (official name: ) is a stadium in Chiba City, Chiba, Japan. It opened in 1990 and holds approximately 30,000 people. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Chiba Lotte Marines. It is also used for Rugby union. The stadium ...

to create the fresh sound effect she desired, believing it was the only stadium that could meet the requirements they needed as it had huge speakers, no ceiling, was spacious, and was slightly sloped. Reminiscing on enhancing the roar at the stadium, Inoue said "I'll never forget the emotion I felt when I played it from the biggest speaker behind the electronic bulletin board"; Yamazaki recalled, "I felt a shiver in the pit of my stomach when I thought that people who actually saw Godzilla would hear this sound." After the crew played the sound at the stadium, they received several complaints from nearby residents. Producer Gō Abe stated that sound effects from the were utilized for the scene where Godzilla attacks a

63 series 63 may refer to: * 63 (number) * one of the years 63 BC, AD 63, 1963, 2063 * +63, telephone country code in the Philippines * Flight 63 (disambiguation) * ''63'' (album), by Tree63 * ''63'' (mixtape), by Kool A.D. * "Sixty Three", a song by Karm ...

train, as the crew sought to enhance the postwar setting through practical sounds.

Marketing

On June 12, 2023, the film's

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account began a daily countdown for all of Toho's live-action ''Godzilla'' films, starting with its previous live-action film ''Shin Godzilla''. On July 11, Toho lifted the embargo on its secret ''kaiju'' film project, which was revealed as ''Godzilla Minus One''. The film was announced with a teaser trailer, poster (which was primarily designed by Yamazaki), and the release date for the United States. Merchandise for the film was unveiled the next day with a full-body shot of Godzilla. On July 13, Tamashii unveiled its Godzilla toy for its S.H. MonsterArts line; the toy was sculpted by Yuki Sakai under Yamazaki's supervision and based on 3D data from the film. A series of pre-release products and an exhibit promoting the film was at the exhibition "The Visual World-crafting of YAMAZAKI Takashi , Film Director" in Yamazaki's hometown of

Matsumoto Matsumoto (松本 or 松元, "base of the pine tree") may refer to: Places * Matsumoto, Nagano (松本市), a city ** Matsumoto Airport, an airport southwest of Matsumoto, Nagano * Matsumoto, Kagoshima (松元町), a former town now part of the c ...

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

, from July 15 to October 29. A 2-meter tall Godzilla statue was exhibited at the 2023 Summer Wonder Festival on July 30. At the request of Toho, Hiroaki Fukushi spent roughly one month creating a statue of Godzilla, dubbed "Godzilla Neputa", to promote the film at the

Aomori Nebuta Matsuri The is a Japanese summer festival that takes place in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, Japan in early August. The festival attracts the most tourists of any of the country's nebuta festivals, and is counted among the three largest festivals in the Tōh ...

from August 4 to 8. Toho released its official trailer alongside the theatrical release poster, and details on the central cast and staff members on September 4. On September 14, 15 shots and a visual of Godzilla from the film were released; ticket sales (via ''Mubichike Online'') and flyers for its November 3 release were released the following day. On September 14, ''SciFi Japan'' reported that the film had remained the top trending film on social media sites in Japan and the U.S., with the trailer accumulating over 9 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. During a press conference on September 25,

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview ...

, the city bordering

(where some scenes in the film were shot), announced that it would promote the film to make the location a tourist attraction by preparing for "location cruising" at the lake in late October. On October 7, behind-the-scenes footage of the making of ''Godzilla Minus One'' was broadcast on Channel 4 of TV Shinshu, as part of a television special on Yamazaki, which was narrated by

. On October 18, Yamazaki and the film's stars attended its

red carpet A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events. History The earliest known reference to ...

premiere along

Godzilla Street Godzilla Street is a street named after Godzilla in Kabukichō, Tokyo, Kabukichō, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. See also * Godzilla head * Godzilla in popular culture * Shinjuku Toho Building External links

* Godzilla (franchise) Shinjuku S ...

Kabukichō Kabukichō ( ja, 歌舞伎町, , ) is an entertainment district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Kabuki-chō is the location of many host and hostess clubs, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs, and is often called the "Sleepless Town" (, , ...

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

; the red carpet was 50.1 meters in length, which is the fictitious height of Godzilla in ''Godzilla Minus One''. In addition, the "Godzilla Attack Truck" was revealed for the first time on the red carpet; it would later travel around Japan to promote the movie. Television stations across Japan began airing a television special on ''Godzilla Minus One'' in late October. It features interviews with Yamazaki, Kamiki, and Hamabe, and behind-the-scenes footage. On October 23, Yamazaki, Kamiki, and Hamabe attended the red carpet at the opening of the

36th Tokyo International Film Festival The 36th Tokyo International Film Festival is film festival that took place from October 23 to November 1, 2023. German filmmaker Wim Wenders served as jury president. The official poster for the festival was created by fashion designer Koshin ...

. To promote the film in Japan,

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

manufacture Cheerio released a new ''

Chūhai , an abbreviation of " shōchū highball" (焼酎ハイボール), is an alcoholic drink originating from Japan. Traditional chūhai is made with barley shōchū and carbonated water flavored with lemon, but some modern commercial variants ...

'' drink called the "Godzilla Energy " on November 6.

Selected screenings

On August 24, it was announced that, as a prelude to the release of ''Godzilla Minus One'', Yamazaki had selected "4 ''Godzilla'' Works" for screenings in September and October. An accompanying "talk show" took place before each screening, with ''Shin Godzilla'' and ''

'' (2022) director

serving as the guest for the screening of the original 1954 ''Godzilla'' film, and suitmaker

Keizō Murase is a Japanese suitmaker, stuntman, sculptor, modeler, and film director. He is particularly well known for his work in giant monster films, including ''Mothra'' (1961), ''King Kong vs. Godzilla'' (1962), and '' The Mighty Peking Man'' (1977). C ...

serving as the guest for the screening of ''

Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster is a 1964 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the fifth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and was the second ''Godzilla'' film produced ...

'' (1964). The third and fourth ''Godzilla'' films selected by Yamazaki for screenings are

's '' Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack'' (2001), and a new black-and-white version of ''Shin Godzilla'' created by

, Higuchi and

Katsuro Onoue is a Japanese special effects director and visual effects supervisor. Life and career Onoue was born in 1960 in Kagoshima, Japan. He went to high school in Saga, Kyushu, Japan, and moved to Tokyo upon entering university. When he was a stu ...

, respectively. Kaneko and Anno were also the guests at the talk shows for their respective films.

Collaborative projects

The film was promoted at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium. Construction on the stadium began on May 16, 1985, and it opened on March 17, 1988. It was built on the site of th ...

in collaboration with the

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They ...

in their match against the

Tokyo Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...

, taking place on October 1. A "special collaboration" video and a 3.6-meter statue of Godzilla were displayed at the venue. On September 27, Fujita Kanko stated in a press release that the Hakone Kowakien Yunessun hot spring theme park in

Hakone is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many hot springs and views of ...

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

would hold an event in collaboration with the film from October 20, 2023, to January 8, 2024.

Release

Theatrical

''Godzilla Minus One'' had its worldwide premiere at

Toho Cinemas is a Japanese movie theater company. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toho, Toho Co., Ltd. Overview Virgin Cinemas Japan Ltd. was founded by Japanese-American businessman Mark Yamamoto on September 12, 1997. Virgin Cinemas Trias Hisayama, ...

' theater inside the

Shinjuku, Tokyo is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

on October 18, 2023. It was the closing film at the

on November 1, where it was shown with English subtitles. To celebrate the franchise's 70th anniversary, the film was released nationwide in Japan on November 3, the same date as the first ''Godzilla'' film's

wide release In the American motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across the country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical re ...

in 1954. It was shown in over 500 theaters nationwide—including in

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

Dolby Cinema Dolby Cinema is a premium cinema created by Dolby Laboratories that combines Dolby proprietary technologies such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, as well as other signature entrance and intrinsic design features. The technology competes with IMA ...

4DX 4DX is a 4D film format developed by CJ 4DPlex, a subsidiary of South Korean cinema chain CJ CGV. It allows films to be augmented with various practical effects, including motion-seats, wind, strobe-lights, simulated-snow, and scents. First in ...

MX4D MX4D is a 4D film presentation system developed by the American company MediaMation that allows a film to be augmented with environmental effects, such as motion, odors, and humidity. It uses theater seats which tilt forward, backward, and to t ...

, and

ScreenX ScreenX is a panoramic film format which presents films with an expanded, dual-sided, 270-degree screens projected on the walls in a theater. First introduced in 2012, it is created by CJ 4DPLEX, a subsidiary of the CJ CGV group which also creat ...

formats—making it one of Toho's largest domestic distributions to date. Selected Japanese theaters screened the film with English subtitles on November 23. The film's American premiere took place at the DGA Theater Complex in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on November 10, with Yamazaki and Kamiki in attendance. It was also screened by ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

'' at Santa Ana's Frida Cinema on November 27, the Japan Society in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

on November 28, and in selected large screens in the United States the next day. Toho's American subsidiary Toho International released it throughout the U.S. with English subtitles on December 1, becoming the company's first wide theatrical self-distribution in North America. Although it initially opened in 2,308 American theaters with the intention of being shown for only a week, the film was extended to over 2,600 theaters on December 15 and remained in U.S. theaters for months due to its popularity and positive reviews. The film concluded its U.S. run on February 1, 2024, supposedly because of Toho and

Legendary Entertainment Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...

's contract on the Godzilla character and since Legendary's '' Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'' was being readied for release eight weeks later. Nevertheless, two more screenings were held in Los Angeles by ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particle ...

'' and the

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a museum in Los Angeles, California constructed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which is devoted to the history, science, and cultural impact of the film industry. It is the f ...

, respectively: on February 19 at the Landmark Theatres Sunset and on March 31 at the David Geffen Theater. The film was released in other Western countries on December 1, 2023. These countries included Australia and New Zealand (via Sugoi Co); Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland (via Peppermint Anime); and Benelux, France, Italy, the Nordics, Poland, and Spain. Sato Company released it in Brazil on December 14, 2023, while

Anime Limited Anime Limited, also known as All the Anime is a British anime distribution company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It releases anime for British, Irish, French and other European audiences. The company was established in 2012 by Andrew Partridge, b ...

released it in the United Kingdom and Ireland on December 15.

Black-and-white edition

Toho released a black-and-white version of the film, titled , in Japanese theaters on January 12, 2024; Toho International released this version in the United States on January 26, where it played until February 1. ''Godzilla Minus One'' colorist Masahiro Ishiyama was assigned to create ''Minus Color''. Yamazaki proposed that

's atomic breath remain in color for the black-and-white edition, similar to how

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

's black-and-white

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

'' High and Low'' (1963) features red smoke in one scene. However, this concept was rejected by the rest of the crew. In regards to the ''Minus Color'' version, the director said in a statement: "Rather than just making it

monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochrom ...

, it is a cut-by-cut. I had them make adjustments while making full use of various mattes as if they were creating a new movie." ''Minus Color'' is an attempt to make it more of a documentary-style

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

, and homage to the 1954 film. This version was also the last credit for producer Shūji Abe, who died on December 11, 2023; Yamazaki and the visual effects team paid tribute to Abe at the

, saying he was "lost too soon".

Home media

''Godzilla Minus One'' was released on

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...

, as well as regular

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

formats in Japan on May 1, 2024; the Ultra HD Blu-ray was revealed as a "

deluxe edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

" featuring both the color and black-and-white versions and multiple bonus features. Two days later,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

began streaming it in Japan.

Reception

Box office

''Godzilla Minus One'' debuted at

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1' ...

at the Japanese box office, grossing () from 648,577 tickets during its first three days. During its opening weekend, it grossed from 49

theaters, making it the largest opening for a live-action Japanese film in the format. It remained at number one for three consecutive weekends, but was overtaken by '' Tonde Saitama ~Biwako Yori Ai o Komete~'' in its fourth weekend. In January 2024, the reported that ''Godzilla Minus One'' was the fifth-highest-grossing Japanese film of 2023. As of April 21, 2024, the film has earned in Japan, making it the highest-grossing live-action film released in Japan during 2023 and the 99th highest-grossing movie ever at the Japanese box office. ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'' stated that ''Godzilla Minus One'' was a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

but its

became "one of the most successful ever from Japan". In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross around from 2,308 theaters in its opening weekend and made on its first day, including $2.1 million from its Wednesday and Thursday previews. It went on to debut with , finishing in third place behind '' The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes'' and '' Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé'' while breaking the U.S. opening weekend record for a live-action Japanese film, and overtaking '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village'' as the biggest debut for a foreign film in 2023. In the United States, it also became the highest-grossing Japanese-language film, the 46th highest-earning movie of 2023, and surpassed

Bong Joon-ho Bong Joon-ho (, ; Hanja: 奉俊昊; born September 14, 1969) is a South Korean film director, producer and screenwriter. The recipient of four Academy Awards, his filmography is characterised by emphasis on social themes, genre-mixing, black h ...

's ''

Parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

'' (2019) as the third highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time, Meanwhile, in its opening weekend in Brazil and the United Kingdom, the film debuted at second place and earned £816,891 in the latter. ''Godzilla Minus One'' exceeded

's expectations at the worldwide box office and contributed to their yearly theatrical income exceeding () for the first time ever. Outside of Japan, it grossed in the United States and Canada; in Australia; in Germany; in Mexico; in the Netherlands; in Portugal, in Italy; in New Zealand; in Norway; in Spain; and in the United Kingdom. Overall, it surpassed ''Shin Godzilla'' as the highest-grossing Japanese ''Godzilla'' film ever, grossing globally.

Critical response

''Godzilla Minus One'' received mixed reviews from Japanese critics.

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

-based film critic and journalist

Mark Schilling Mark Schilling (born 1949) is an American film critic, journalist, translator, and author based in Tokyo, Japan. He has written for ''The Japan Times'', ''Variety'', and ''Screen International''. Biography Schilling began working for ''The Japan ...

wrote that Japanese critics frequently rebuke the films of writer-director

, partly because "most are left-leaning" and view a few of his films, most notably the

war drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

The Eternal Zero is a 2013 Japanese war drama film directed by Takashi Yamazaki and based on a novel by Naoki Hyakuta, published in English by Vertical Inc. The film starts with a frame story set in 2004. A Japanese man in his twenties learns that he is the gra ...

'' (2013), as "nationalistic if not outright jingoistic". Schilling also mentioned that critic and historian

Inuhiko Yomota is a Japanese author, cultural essayist, translator and film historian. His real name is . Biography Inuhiko Yomota was born on February 20, 1953, in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, but grew up in Tokyo. He graduated from the University of To ...

was critical of ''Godzilla Minus One'', calling it "dangerous". Meanwhile, the film attained widespread critical acclaim overseas. According to ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', American critics concertedly praised its tiny-budgeted visual effects, touching human drama, and the usage of the ''

'' metaphor for social commentary, with many favoring it over recent Hollywood productions. American audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, and polls by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film a ...

gave it a 92% overall positive score, with 83% saying they would definitely recommend the film. ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' and ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' found Yamazaki's depiction of Godzilla in the film to be frightening; whereas ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

'' believed that the film was not as terrifying as ''Shin Godzilla'' and was "more swell". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', and ''

'' concurred that one of the film's highlights was its largely emotionally-driven storyline, with ''The Washington Post'' comparing it to '' Top Gun: Maverick'' (2022), commenting that both films were reminders of the importance of movies that combine "concise and creative action with emotionally resonant characters". ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' wrote that its emotional messages are akin to that of

's ''

Ikiru is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed and co-written (with Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) by Akira Kurosawa. The film examines the struggles of a terminally ill Tokyo bureaucrat (played by Takashi Shimura) and his final quest for meaning. Th ...

'' (1952), a film about an ill bureaucrat and his final quest for meaning in life. ''

'' appreciated how the film merged "sweeping spectacle and tense action with the more complicated themes of war and loss".

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...

lauded the film's effects, spectacle, screenplay, set and sound design, cinematography, and character development; and believed it is one of the best ''Godzilla'' films.

Kevin Maher Kevin Andrew Maher (born 17 October 1976) is a former professional footballer and coach who played as a midfielder. He is head coach of National League side Southend United. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland internationall ...

and the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' deemed ''Godzilla Minus One'' to be superior to the American ''Godzilla'' films because of its visuals and plot. Critics often raved about its characters, with the ''Daily Express'' and ''Deadline Hollywood'' agreeing that they were three-dimensional. Dana Stevens esteemed Ryunosuke Kamiki's performance and his ability to elicit the protagonist's vulnerability and emotional suffering. Contrarily, some reviewers were critical of the supporting characters; ''IGN Japan'' viewed them as overly stereotypical examples of Japanese people during the

Shōwa era The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era. The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...

, and ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' believed that the characters played by

, and Miou Tanaka were monotonous compared to the visuals and implied that their scenes were "eye-roll-inducing stuff". Additionally, the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' noted that some criticism was directed towards the film "pushing a pro-military agenda".

Industry response

''Godzilla Minus One'' attained praise from industry figures. Writing for ''

'', Pete Hammond stated that the film "astounded" Hollywood and the filmmakers' use of their low budget impressed the Visual Effects Governors.

, co-director of ''

'', called the film "well-made" and praised the film's technical prowess, saying that Japan has improved in the field of visual effects. ''

'' (2014) director

admitted to feeling "jealous", adding that "this is what a ''Godzilla'' movie should be" and that the film should be "mentioned as a candidate for the best ''Godzilla'' movie of all time". At the film's American premiere, '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' (2019) director

Michael Dougherty Michael Patrick Dougherty (born October 28, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and animator, best known for the cult horror film ''Trick 'r Treat'' (2007), and the monster film '' Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' (2019) ...

told Yamazaki and Kamiki that the film was "amazing" and

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, producer, and writer. Green's film debut came with a role in the comedy-drama film ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting ...

said "It's a movie filled with a lot of emotions, and I was very moved by it".

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...

noted the film's "Theatre-sized ambition and fulfillment" and called it "A Miracle". Filmmakers

Adam Wingard Adam Wingard ( ; born December 3, 1982) is an American filmmaker. He has served as a director, producer, screenwriter, editor, cinematographer, actor, and composer on numerous projects. Following an early career as a member of the mumblecore ...

(director of '' Godzilla vs. Kong'' and '' Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire''),

Joe Dante Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix 1950s-style B movies wit ...

James Ponsoldt James Adam Ponsoldt (born 1978) is an American film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed the drama films ''Off the Black'' (2006) and ''Smashed (film), Smashed'' (2012), the romantic comedy-drama ''The Spectacular Now'' (2013), and the dr ...

, and Juel Taylor listed the film amongst their favorite films of 2023.

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film ''Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co ...

named it "by far the best ''Godzilla'' movie that I've ever seen" and compared the ocean sequences to ''

'' (1975). Several filmmakers, including

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

, spoke to Yamazaki and three other members of the visual effects crew while they were at the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

on January 13, 2024, and some expressed to them that they believed the movie is the best of 2023.

Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH) is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum. It is known mainly for producing horror films, such as ''Paranormal Activity'', ''Insidio ...

founder and CEO

Jason Blum Jason Ferus Blum "Jason Ferus Blum was born in LA in 1969 to Shirley Neilsen, an art professor, and Irving Blum, an art dealer" (; born 1969) is an American film and television producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, whic ...

named it his favorite movie of the year and expressed his desires for Yamazaki to make a Blumhouse film. Yamazaki encountered

—whom was a significant influence on the film—at the 2024 Oscar Nominees Luncheon. According to ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'', Spielberg was "obsessed" with the film and told Yamazaki: "I saw it once in my home, and then I had to go see it again in IMAX, then Dolby Atmos". '' Oppenheimer'' director

praised the film, saying it had much in common with Yamazaki's 2013 film ''

'' and offered deep insights into its main characters. Nolan also said he "can't think of a better director" to create a response to ''Oppenheimer'' than Yamazaki. '' Monarch: Legacy of Monsters'' creators

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', ''Uncanny ...

and Chris Black commend the film's storyline and themes, with Black feeling it was equal to their show and

Legendary Legendary may refer to: * Legend, a folklore genre * Legendary (hagiography) ** Anjou Legendarium * J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium Film and television * ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film * ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...

Monsterverse The MonsterVerse is an American multimedia franchise and shared fictional universe featuring Godzilla, King Kong, and other monster characters owned and created by Toho Co., Ltd. The franchise is produced by Legendary Pictures and co-produced and ...

films. Video game designer

Hideo Kojima is a Japanese video game designer, director, producer and writer. He is regarded as an auteur of video games. He developed a strong passion for action/adventure cinema and literature during his childhood and adolescence. In 1986, he was hired ...

hailed the screenplay, depiction of Godzilla, visual effects, score, and Hamabe's performance, joking that "the result was +120 points, so I would like to change the title". ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual chapte ...

'' creator

Eiichiro Oda is a Japanese manga artist and the creator of the series ''One Piece'' (1997–present). With more than 516.5 million ''tankōbon'' copies in circulation worldwide, ''One Piece'' is both the best-selling manga in history and the best-se ...

said that the film was "great" and it inspired him to watch other entries in the series afterward. Manga artist

Aka Akasaka is a Japanese manga artist. His series '' Kaguya-sama: Love Is War'' was serialized in Shueisha's ''Miracle Jump'' between May 2015 and January 2016, and was then transferred to ''Weekly Young Jump'' starting from March 2016. It was the 9th best ...

called the human drama "wonderful" and admitted that he cried during some scenes.

U.S. performance

Several American media analysts and journalists noted how the film's critical and commercial success in the United States excelled recent Hollywood tentpoles, particularly

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

s. They also often mentioned that it delivered visual effects on a very low budget and had superior quality compared with those movies. Comscore's senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian attributed the film's success to "outside-of-the-box thinking or movies that have a unique point of view, or not trying to just replicate what was successful before". He compared the film to similarly successful 2023 films —such as '' Oppenheimer'', ''

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

'', and '' Sound of Freedom''— that also offered fresh and unorthodox experiences. Dergarabedian argued that audiences do not have fatigue from Godzilla or action films but fatigue from "bad movies". Saba Hamedy from

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

said that the film proved that action films based on recycled characters can still find success. In addition, Japanese film critic Naoto Mori attributed the film's success to the fact that it was released during a period when Hollywood superhero movies bombed because they had a poor response from theatergoers and overly large budgets. Mori suggested that ''Godzilla Minus One'' was viewed as the opposite of those films since it demonstrated that films do not require enormous budgets to be visually captivating and have a "suitably profound story". Toho's CEO Hiroyasu Matsuoka felt the film "benefited from less competition on release due to the strike in Hollywood".

Budget debates

Disputes on estimate

Upon the film's release, its budget became a topic of wide discussion. It reportedly had a budget under 10% of that held by the previous ''Godzilla'' film, '' Godzilla vs. Kong'' (2021), produced by American studio

. On November 14, 2023, Yamazaki denied that the movie cost , stating that its budget was higher. Multiple websites—including ''

'', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', and ''

''—claimed that the film's budget was (roughly ). However, Yamazaki also denied this figure and specified that the film cost less.

Yahoo! Japan is a Japanese internet company originally formed as a joint venture between the American internet company Yahoo! (later divested by Verizon into Altaba) and the Japanese company SoftBank. It is headquartered at Kioi Tower in the Tokyo Garden Terr ...

, '' Nikkei xTREND'', '' Eiga.com'', and ''

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...

'', all asserted the budget was . The ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' reported the budget to be , and Yamazaki later confirmed that the budget was within . ''

'' subsequently cited it as , adding that the number is "on the higher end for the Japanese film industry". Yamazaki has refused to divulge the film's actual budget figure out of fear that "everyone's gonna want me to make a movie for that number".

Japan's labor laws

Some Western journalists suggested that its low budget and low amount of animators reflected harsh working conditions in the Japanese film industry. Sam Williamson from ''

'' addressed that Japan's labor laws incentivize studios to keep costs low at the expense of the cast and crew. He noted that Japanese actor

Kanji Furutachi is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Sakai, Osaka, Furutachi traveled to New York in his twenties to study acting at the HB Studio under Uta Hagen. Returning to Japan, he joined the Seinendan theatre troupe run by Oriza Hirata and the Sample the ...

had once stated that Japan lacks unions for actors and filmmakers, which brings a "low-quality environment with long hours and low wages" and rise to

exploitation Exploitation may refer to: *Exploitation of natural resources *Exploitation of labour ** Forced labour *Exploitation colonialism *Slavery ** Sexual slavery and other forms *Oppression *Psychological manipulation In arts and entertainment *Exploi ...

. Likewise, Kevin Slane of ''

Boston.com ''Boston.com'' is a regional website that offers news and information about the Boston, Massachusetts, region. It is owned and operated by Boston Globe Media Partners, the publisher of ''The Boston Globe''. History ''Boston.com'' was one of t ...

'' felt the explanation for the film's visual effects being superior to that of the majority of

Marvel Studios Marvel Studios, LLC (originally known as Marvel Films from 1993 to 1996) is an American film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Company. Marvel Studios produces the Mar ...

' movies on a roughly budget, to the likelihood that the visual effects crew had faced cruel working conditions. According to Yamazaki, the visual effects team was not mistreated, having avoided working long hours on the film, and they installed a kitchen in the studio to make it "more comfortable and cozy". Moreover, he explained there are two categories of animation studios in Japan: "white" and "black", with "black" studios being the exploiters; the name of the film's visual effects studio,

, literally means "white team" in Japanese.

Accolades

''Godzilla Minus One'' won Best Visual Effects at the

. It was the first ''Godzilla'' film ever to be nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, as well as the first

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Asian film to be nominated for, and win, as well as the first non-English language film to win, in the Best Visual Effects category. In addition, Yamazaki became the first director since

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

(for ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

), and Kiyoko Shibuya became the first woman of color to win in the category. At the 19th Austin Film Critics Association Awards, ''Godzilla Minus One'' was selected as the sixth

best film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

of 2023 and won Best International Film. The film received nominations for three

Asian Film Awards Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

(winning two; Best Visual Effects and Best Sound), four

Blue Ribbon Awards The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanes ...

(winning three;

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

for Kamiki, and Best Supporting Actress for Hamabe), four

Critics' Choice Super Awards The Critics' Choice Super Awards is an awards show presented annually by the Critics Choice Association to honor the finest in genre fiction film, television and home media releases, including action, superhero, horror, science fiction, fantasy ...

(winning two: Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Movie and Best Villain in a Movie for

), six ''Mainichi'' Film Awards (winning

Best Art Direction The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted fro ...

for ), and four Seattle Film Critics Society Awards (winning three; Best International Film, Best Visual Effects, and Villain of the Year). ''Godzilla Minus One'' won eight of its leading twelve nominations at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize, including

Best Picture This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, and Best Supporting Actress for

, becoming the most-awarded film at that year's ceremony.

Post-release

Cultural impact

According to

, ''Godzilla Minus One'' was a "global phenomenon", with fans making it "propel to the forefront of pop culture". In February 2024, Gavin J Blair of ''

'' suggested that ''Godzilla Minus One'' is a significant contributor to the recent revival of

Japanese popular culture Japanese popular culture includes Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, anime, manga, video games, music, and doujinshi, all of which retain older artistic and literary traditions; many of their themes and styles of presentation can be t ...

in the West, alongside

's ''

The Boy and the Heron is a 2023 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Studio Ghibli, the film's Japanese title references Genzaburō Yoshino's 1937 novel of the same name but is not an adaptation of it. The Japanese ...

'' (2023), the first season of

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's live action adaptation of ''

'', and the miniseries ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' (2024). ''

'' claimed that ''Godzilla Minus One'' "helped the ''Godzilla'' series become more popular than ever before" and ''Variety'' implied that the film had gained a legendary status by April 2024. Amidst the film's popularity, Yamazaki and the visual effects team were assigned to create another ''

'' film, the

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''Foodlosslla: What Should Humanity Do!?'' (2024). As a tribute to ''Godzilla Minus One'', director

and visual effects supervisor Alessandro Ongaro recreated a shot of the ground bursting beneath

's foot for the Rome sequence in '' Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'' (2024). Many critics disapproved of ''Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire'' since it lacked the human drama that ''Godzilla Minus One'' focused on. Regardless, the positive word-of-mouth Yamazaki's movie generated is believed to have helped ''Godzilla x Kong'' achieve several box office milestones, including becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 2024.

Media recognition

''Godzilla Minus One'' is widely considered one of the best films of 2023 and among the greatest ''Godzilla'' movies ever made. It was placed 30th on

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...

's annual critics poll, of which 158 critics worldwide voted in, and many critics on ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times' ...

'' included it in their individual listings of the best ten films of 2023. As of 2024, it remains the fourth highest-rated movie of 2023 on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, and maintains the highest certified critical rating for a ''Godzilla'' film. ' named ''Godzilla Minus One'' the best movie released in Japan during 2023 on their "Top 20 Movies" list, the ''South China Morning Post'' named it the best Asian film of 2023, and ''

Quad-City Times The ''Quad-City Times'' is a daily morning newspaper based in Davenport, Iowa, and circulated throughout the Quad Cities metropolitan area ( Davenport, Bettendorf and Scott County in Iowa; and Moline, East Moline, Rock Island and Rock Isla ...

'' named it the "best thing anyone put on screen in 2023". ''Collider'' listed it as the year's eleventh best film and best Japanese film as well as the 22nd-best film of the 2020s. ''Deadline'' listed the film amongst their "Top International Films Of 2023" list; The

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, and ''

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'' agreed that it was among the year's best

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

s; '' Paste'' ranked it as the year's third best science fiction movie; and ''

'' ranked it the fourteenth best film of 2023.

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

also recommended the film when writing about his favorite films of 2023. Conversely, ' ranked it the third worst Japanese film of 2023. In 2024, the film was ranked second on ''

'''s list of the best ''Godzilla'' movies of all time, third on ''

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'''s, sixth on IndieWire's, and fourth on ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

'''s.

Potential sequel

After the film's release, Yamazaki confirmed that no discussions of a sequel had transpired but expressed interest in directing one. He elaborated that if he were to make a second ''Godzilla'' film, he would prefer a direct sequel that would see a "continuation of those people's story" and how their lives proceeded after the events of ''Godzilla Minus One''. On other occasions, Yamazaki has also mentioned that the next film may feature an antagonizing ''kaiju'' for Godzilla to battle and implied that a sequel would explore the curse Godzilla left behind on Japan, similar to the one left behind by the Tatari-gami in ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida ...

'' (1997).

(who played Noriko) added that the film may be the start of a new series, noting "If there is a next series, I might be the one stepping on and crushing people". The possibility of a sequel was largely discussed at a stage greeting held after a screening of the black-and-white version of the film in

on January 12, 2024, which several cast members attended, while Yamazaki attended remotely as he was in the United States at that time. Yamazaki revealed that he wanted the characters to return to the sea once again for the sequel. Yuki Yamada proposed the idea of using Noriko as the key to locating Godzilla since, according to his interpretation, she possesses the monster's "cells". On another occasion,

told Daily Express, ''Daily Express'' that she wants her character to encounter Godzilla in a sequel to the film, joking that she would like to be "jumping like this

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

-type woman taking down Godzilla". During a February 2024 Q&A with ''

'' founder Steve Weintraub, Yamazaki announced that he has begun developing his film, but denied that it would be a sequel to ''Godzilla Minus One''. In regards to the possibility of making a sequel afterward, he added: "Hypothetically, if there is a Godzilla sequel, then I would like to date it with how long it’s been in ''our'' timeline as to what the characters have gone through. So, if we film it three years from now, I would set it three years from ''Godzilla Minus One''." Producer Minami Ichikawa believed that Toho would take their time to produce the next live-action ''Godzilla'' film since they want "great ideas, an excellent script, a talented director, and the right cast to work on it carefully" because "Godzilla deserves to have that level of intentionality".

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

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* * {{Authority control 2023 films 2023 action films 2023 science fiction films 2020s Japanese films 2020s Japanese-language films 2020s monster movies 4DX films Anti-nuclear films Anti-war films Anti-war films about World War II Cultural depictions of Douglas MacArthur Films about bomb disposal Films about dinosaurs Films about fear Films about grief Films about kamikaze pilots Films about navies Films about nuclear war and weapons Films about post-traumatic stress disorder Films about veterans Films about World War II alternate histories Films directed by Takashi Yamazaki Films produced by Minami Ichikawa Films produced by Shūji Abe Films scored by Naoki Satō Films set in 1945 Films set in 1946 Films set in 1947 Films set in Tokyo Films set in the Marshall Islands Films set in the Pacific Ocean Films set on fictional islands Films shot in Tokyo Films shot in Ibaraki Prefecture Films shot in Nagano Prefecture Films shot in Shizuoka Prefecture Films impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award Godzilla films Historical epic films IMAX films Japanese alternate history films Japanese black-and-white films Japanese epic films Japanese films about revenge Japanese science fiction films Japanese World War II films Pacific War films Picture of the Year Japan Academy Prize winners Reboot films ScreenX films Shirogumi Toho films Toho tokusatsu films World War II aviation films