With TOHO’s biggest bankroll yet backing him, the sky’s the limit for Yamazaki’s ‘Godzilla Minus One’ sequel. Here’s what we know so far from the director himself.
Topping 2016’s Japanese Academy Award winning Shin Godzilla seemed an impossible task for Toho. Then, Takashi Yamazaki introduced the world to his full vision for cinema’s most famous giant monster, and there’s no turning back.
A Hollywood Oscar for Visual Effects, the largest American haul for a foreign live action film, and a dozen worldwide awards later, Godzilla Minus One continues to be a sensation widely hailed as not only one of the best Godzilla movies of all time, but as one of the best monster movies ever made. It is worthy praise, and Yamazaki-san is primed to return with a beyond-impressive backing from Toho in kind.
See Where We Ranked ‘Minus One’ Against Every Godzilla Movie Ever
The internet has been a’buzz with the official announcement of the director’s next project the last few days. Toho pinpointing their next Godzilla movie as a direct sequel to Yamazaki & Minus One‘s immense success was certainly not surprising. Still, the reigning reaction was overwhelmingly celebratory, and for good reason.
When speaking to Variety recently, Yamazaki declared that he “expects to have more budget this time around from Toho, though he didn’t have an exact figure.”
He may have underestimated himself. Variety was also able to confirm the budget for ‘Godzilla Minus One’ as $15 million (as opposed to the oft-touted $10 million). For the sequel, however, Toho is betting big on their winning team – a team that turned that $15 million investment into a $115 million dollar hit.
Over the next three years, the studio will invest 120 billion yen – or $1.2 billion USD – in “accelerating globalization” of their IPs. The best part for Godzilla fans? 15 billion of that total – around $105 million – is going directly to the Big G himself.
It wouldn’t be unwise to assume that at least a third of this amount will fund the Godzilla Minus One sequel (which would double the original’s budget), with the rest going to video games, merchandising, and attractions.
So what’s a genius to do with all that money? ‘Make them fight.’
“I would certainly like to see what the sequel would look like,” Yamazaki said after the runaway success of Minus One some months ago. “I know that Shikishima’s war seems over, and we’ve reached this state of peace and calm – but perhaps [it’s the] calm before the storm, and the characters have not yet been forgiven for what has been imposed upon them.”
As for what that entails, the director’s comments heavily hint at a kaiju battle worthy of Minus One’s brilliance. Indeed, Yamazaki seems as jazzed as the rest of us to see his Godzilla square off against a giant foe.
“I don’t know that anyone has pulled off a more serious tone of kaiju-versus-kaiju with human drama, and that challenge is something that I’d like to explore,” he continued. “When you have movies that feature [kaiju battles], I think it’s very easy to put the spotlight and the camera on this massive spectacle, and it detaches itself from the human drama component.”
To make this work in his unique universe, however, Yamazaki aims to “make sure that the human drama and whatever’s happening between [the] kaiju both have meaning, and both are able to affect one another in terms of plot development.“
Count us in.
Godzilla Minus One vs Another Kaiju ‘is something that I’d like to explore’ Yamazaki Says
So, then, what does Minus One Goji vs another colossal creature look like? Yamazaki’s comments certainly seem to shy away from the neon-punch-em-up of Legendary’s American MonsterVerse. As successful as those films have been for the character and all parties involved, the director said himself he is wishing to see kaiju battles depicted in a “serious tone.”
And with Minami Hamabe’s Noriko sporting a very conspicuous affliction following the events of Godzilla Minus One‘s post-WWII catastrophe, Yamazaki may have already set himself up to accomplish just that.
One popular fan wish is to see Noriko’s ailment, caused by direct exposure to Godzilla’s atomic blast, turn her into a reimagined Biollante. The popular (and brilliantly conceptualized & realized) part Godzilla, part rose, part human female kaiju hasn’t made another film appearance since her debut in 1989’s Godzilla vs Biollante. She’d certainly fit the grounded feel of Minus One’s period drama.
For my money, however, I’d love to see what new creation Yamazaki and his team can dream up. If we can get a brand new, brazen, animalistic kaiju out of this deal, I’ll be one happy lifelong G-Fan.
What about you? What would you like to see from the Godzilla Minus One sequel? Sound off in the comments below and be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to join in the discussion.