Get ready for GODZILLA MINUS ONE, Toho’s next entry in film’s longest-running franchise and their first since 2016’s smash hit, SHIN GODZILLA.

Toho has been teasing their latest Godzilla entry on Twitter for the last two weeks, and today’s the big day. Releasing the film’s official title, teaser, poster, debut dates, and Godzilla himself all in one city-smashing swoop, the studio – which has been producing G-films since 1954’s Gojira – is succeeding in building excitement.

The Japanese Oscar-winning SHIN GODZILLA will be a tough act to follow. But GODZILLA MINUS ONE is set to deliver a period piece that stands apart (even if the tone feels rather Shin-esque).

“Set in a post-war Japan, GODZILLA MINUS ONE will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force, which you already get a sense of from the teaser trailer and poster,” offers President of Toho International Koji Ueda in the studio’s Wednesday press release.

For MINUS ONE, “The concept is that Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country into the ‘minus,’” Ueda adds.

The film will debut in Japan on November 3, 2023. Then, a U.S. theatrical release will follow on December 1, 2023.

Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, MINUS ONE is also a spiritual successor to his work on GODZILLA THE RIDE, alongside his Always: Sunset on Third Street 2, which featured Godzilla in a dream sequence of sorts. That all-CGI Godzilla and design were a hit with fans, so his shepherding of Toho’s latest G-film is highly anticipated.

Watch the official GODZILLA MINUS ONE Teaser Now:

Written and Directed by: Takashi Yamazaki In theaters nationwide December 1, 2023. ©2023 TOHO CO., LTD.

©2023 TOHO CO., LTD.

“Godzilla is one of the most globally licensed Japanese characters,” Peter Tatara, director of film at the Japan Society and an expert in Japanese pop culture, tells Forbes Wednesday. “He’s a pop cultural ambassador with as much recognition as cuter mascots like Hello Kitty or Pikachu.”

And “While there isn’t a new Godzilla movie every year, there’s a multimillion dollar merchandise empire that’s producing new toys, apparel, plush, games, and much more perpetually entertaining fans and generating monster-sized revenue,” Tatara continues.

Indeed, “Godzilla is one of Japan’s most enduring characters and a tentpole of both domestic and international licensing.”

Per Toho execs, Minus One will add to the Godzilla legacy in a unique way. It will also fit into the “Reiwa” era of the character’s storyline, as did SHIN. To engage U.S. fans further with the new release – and the Big G in general – the studio is also opening a U.S.-based Godzilla Store online. American fans will have access to Japanese merchandise and exclusives directly as a result – and for the first time in history.

“The new U.S.-based Godzilla Store that Toho International will be launching later this summer plans to bring fans a curated mix of items from the Godzilla Store in Japan as well as U.S. partner exclusives,” Ueda explains. “This means limited-edition collaborations, original licensed products, and even exclusive colorways of existing fan-favorite items.

Ueda notes “the experience will be tailored to the Godzilla fan, making more collectibles easily accessible to our passionate North American community.”

The store feels a long time coming. MINUS ONE, however, feels long overdue.

Meet the New Big G of ‘MINUS ONE’

As for our new Big G, he looks to be influenced by the classic (and timeless) Heisei Godzilla design of the 1990s. But he also bares a strong resemblance to the design Yamazaki’s team created for Japan’s current GODZILLA THE RIDE.

For MINUS ONE, however, the head has been enlarged to resemble past Godzilla designs, alongside a re-scaling of the feet and hands. His dorsal plates have been enlarged, too, creating a unique silhouette and “new” design. This will no doubt make Bandai happy (they’ve worked even more closely with Toho the past decade in creating bountiful merchandise from G films) as they’ll be able to produce ample merch of this latest Godzilla.

Regardless, this design marks the first attempt by Toho to create a fully-realized classic Godzilla design with CGI that will lead an entire film. Shin Godzilla was also a mostly CGI creation, but was purposefully a stark departure from past dinosaur-based incarnations. It’ll be interesting to see how a CGI animalistic Goji from Toho navigates the period piece they’re building. And no matter how you feel about Legendary’s American Godzilla design, the SFX work for that series has been absolutely stellar and will be a hard act to follow.

MINUS ONE’s poster also highlights the new design, with a stark look at those reimagined dorsal plates:

Skreeonk.com is re-launching in celebration of the film, and we’ll have all the latest for you as it becomes available.

What do you think of the new Godzilla? Let us know in the comments below, and get ready for plenty more to come.