Takashi Yamazaki (Godzilla Minus One, 2023) will be returning to direct a new film starring the King of the Monsters for Toho.
After receiving the Academy Award for best visual effects last year, Yamazaki is once again handling the VFX.
Godzilla Minus One represents Toho’s 33rd Godzilla movie and the 37th in total to include the iconic monster. The Japanese film is unrelated to Hollywood’s recent showcases of Godzilla in the MonsterVerse from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures.
Set in Japan after the events of World War II, Godzilla Minus One tells the story of Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki), a former kamikaze pilot that survives a near-fatal encounter with Godzilla and suffers from PTSD. When the gigantic monster reappears years later, a group of veterans and soldiers band together to defeat the terror before it can destroy Japan. Furthermore, the cast includes Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki.
It has yet to be confirmed if the new movie is a direct sequel to “Godzilla Minus One“, yet the film itself ended on a cliffhanger.
Spoiler alert: after Godzilla is defeated, it is revealed that a piece of the monster’s flesh is regenerating in the bottom of the ocean. Furthermore, there is the issue of Shikishima’s girlfriend, Noriko Ōishi, who survived a run-in with Godzilla but is left with a mysterious black marking on her neck.
Godzilla Minus One was praised for its special effects that portray the monster on a low budget of only $15 million. It successfully made $116 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing Japanese “Godzilla” film.