GODZILLA: MINUS ONE

[Carnoking]

To interrupt this sequel talk, I just got back from seeing Minus Color and wow! What a treat to be able to see this version of the film. Really takes the more somber tone of the story to a whole new level. It might have been nice if they had kept the atomic blast scene blue for emphasis but other than that it was incredible to see a movie that was so quintessentially "Godzilla" on the big screen.

In anticipation for catching this screening, I did rewatch Shin and yeah, I'm sorry to say that there's really no contest here between which film I prefer 
Shin Godzilla had a really unique interpretation on what the character could be, plus some truly haunting moments and imagery, but when it comes to the movie overall, Minus One is operating on a different level.

Makes me all the more eager to hear about potential plans for a physical release. Here's hoping both the standard and Minus Color are sold as a package deal!

[Fembrogon]

I went to see Minus Color yesterday as well, and was thoroughly pleased. Besides the gut-punch of seeing it for the first time, all the emotional beats and character arcs still stood strong, and I was as pumped as ever for the climax. The black-and-white didn't hugely enhance the film for me, but it suited the period setting and made some of the dramatic moments feel a little starker.
I don't doubt that we'll see this version included in the eventual home video release, given it made it into US theaters.

Regarding sequel/monster talk, I think it's worth noting Takashi Yamazaki has cited Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster and GMK as two of his favorite Godzilla movies. I don't know if Yamazaki is against featuring another monster in a sequel; I think he's just advising caution, based on prior comments, about how to approach a monster-vs-monster plot. He also seems genuinely interested in doing another Godzilla film, but is torn between wanting to do it himself and wanting to see someone new tackle the franchise.
Anyway, it's all up in the air right now. We're probably guaranteed to see SOMETHING again in the near future, but I think Toho is being wise about considering their options.

[GojiraGuy1954]

There's no reason to believe including another monster automatically makes a Godzilla movie bad - King Kong vs. Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante, and GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack are just a few clear cases to the contrary. The challenge, as always, is just to make sure both human and monster characters are integrated effectively into the plot together.
Considering those ambiguous visuals at the end of Minus One, there's already plenty of fan-talk about what directions the next film could take with other monsters.

I think what Yamazaki is saying is that he wants to make a sequel to Minus One, without another monster, and Toho is going to want another monster, so they aren't going to want Yamazaki.

I have hope.

Toho wanted a sequel to Shin Godzilla, but Hideki Anno wasn't interested. I'm hoping they will now turn to Yamazaki and allow him the freedom to make his vision for a sequel.

But, I fear he is correct. It has been over 20 YEARS since we saw a traditional Toho King Ghidorah** on screen... just sayin'.


**Kaiser Ghidorah does not count.

The last traditional KG from Toho was in 1972

[dragon53]

"Toho has not officially disclosed how much Godzilla Minus One cost to make, but a $15 million budget has been associated with the movie. This information comes from one of the movie's rave reviews, as Variety called it a "$15 million enterprise." But, director Takashi Yamazaki denied that (via Comicbook) by saying, "I wish it were that much." The reported Godzilla Minus One budget is significantly lower than most modern Hollywood movies, especially blockbusters that boast a similar scale. To put the much lower cost into perspective, the Monsterverse movies have all had budgets at least ten times as large.

Monsterverse Movie

Budget

Godzilla---$160 Million
Kong: Skull Island---$185 Million
Godzilla: King of the Monsters---$170-$200 Million
Godzilla vs. Kong---$155-$200 Million


The worldwide Godzilla Minus One box office numbers (via Box Office Mojo) rose higher than anyone expected. The movie originally opened in Japan on November 3, 2023, and understandably performed quite well there. Godzilla Minus One made $37 million as people celebrated the 70th anniversary of Toho's franchise. The film was released in additional international countries like Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, and Australia, but interest in the monster movie has been quite low. The 11 international markets accounted for $48.9 million of the worldwide box office total.

Godzilla Minus One found a significant audience in America upon its domestic release on December 1, 2023. The movie opened above expectations and made $11.4 million in its opening weekend, coming in third place for that weekend. The final domestic total was $56 million, as the movie has added tens of millions of dollars more in subsequent weeks. This was due to Toho announcing an extension to the planned Godzilla Minus One theatrical run to meet demand. After two months in theaters, the new Godzilla movie made $105.4 million worldwide, which is great considering the low budget."


source: screenrant

[Fembrogon]

For additional comparison, 15 million USD is comparable to about 2 billion yen, which is what Godzilla: Final Wars cost back in 2004; at the time, GFW was reported as being the most expensive Japanese Godzilla film to date, equivalent to 19 million USD.
Takeshi Yamazaki's other films range in budget from The Eternal Zero (1 billion yen) and Parasyte (2 billion yen), to Space Battleship Yamato (4.1 billion yen).
I don't know what the average budget for Japanese cinema is, especially effects-heavy entries; but this article from Variety in 2018 reports a number of 50 million yen as standard for productions - less than 500K USD at the time (and even lower now). On the high end, Japan has films like Ponyo and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which cost 3 billion and 5 billion yen, respectively.
I'll be very curious to learn just how cheap or expensive the film really was in context of other Japanese blockbusters like the ones above; I suspect it was still fairly expensive by Japan's standards, albeit perhaps on the lower end. Either way, of course, it's still an impressively good-looking movie on a startlingly low budget compared to popular US blockbusters.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think he said closer to 10-11 million in one interview? It's not much at all comparatively speaking. Now did he mean USD or Yen?

[Over9K]

I think he said closer to 10-11 million in one interview? It's not much at all comparatively speaking. Now did he mean USD or Yen?

If they made Minus One for $75K USD, that'd be something.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think he said closer to 10-11 million in one interview? It's not much at all comparatively speaking. Now did he mean USD or Yen?

If they made Minus One for $75K USD, that'd be something.

I read that actors and film staff are paid much lower wages than in the U.S. that might be part of it. But I do agree that seems exceptionally low.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Received my preorder of the Banpresto Minus One Goji :







Easily the best Minus One figure available so far!

[Fembrogon]

Beautiful; Banpresto's Godzillas are the best. I'll have to try keeping eyes out for one at a good price.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Beautiful; Banpresto's Godzillas are the best. I'll have to try keeping eyes out for one at a good price.

They were available for a fair price in October in Japan. I waited til I saw the movie to get one, unfortunately by that point this one and the limited one were going for 200-500.00 on YJP.  I tried getting one through Brett on here but I didn't have much luck. Big Bad Toy Store fortunately listed it up for delivery this month so I preordered one for retail price.

This is the link below but they are now sold out :
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/249663?o=4

It's a good reference though to do searches.

[dragon53]

GODZILLA MINUS ONE---director Takashi Yamazaki posted that he met Steven Spielberg and gave a Godzilla figure to Spielberg, "I've met GOD. What am I going to do with all this? I'm seriously crying. And Spielberg saw GMO 3 times. He told me he liked the characters in the film. I gave him a Godzilla figure, and he was so happy when he took it.."
Yamazaki also commented on a sequel to MINUS ONE, "I would certainly like to see what the sequel would look like. 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."
He added, "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...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 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."

[Carnoking]

I like his thought process behind kaiju vs kaiju films but I gotta be honest, I don't want to see a continuation of Shikishima's story, or any other Minus One characters for that matter. The story was perfect as a stand-alone, I'd rather they brought in new characters in a sequel or spin-off.

Also, it's so awesome he met Spielberg and that Spielberg saw the movie three times, that's gotta be a great feeling for any filmmaker.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It's something that needs a lot of thought. Obviously we have one major plot point from the ending to address. Whether Noriko's condition is unique or not it will affect our current Minus One cast.  You can't set it too far in the future or you risk losing the feel and possible story elements to explore in the time not shown.   I don't mind new characters just like Raids Again did though.

[GojiraGuy1954]

As long as they're interesting

[Fembrogon]

I could see a scenario where, like in Raids Again, one or more members of the first film's cast make an appearance without being the center of the new story. We could start the movie with a new set of protagonists who end up crossing paths with Shikishima, Noriko, etc some point in the 2nd or 3rd act.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I could see a scenario where, like in Raids Again, one or more members of the first film's cast make an appearance without being the center of the new story. We could start the movie with a new set of protagonists who end up crossing paths with Shikishima, Noriko, etc some point in the 2nd or 3rd act.

Exactly. They have to figure out just what is happening to Noriko and what that means for the plot/world. That's going to be key.  Godzilla was recreating himself at sea so we know there will be a new one.   Apparently these regenerative powers were present in the Godzillasaurus before he was hit with radiation according to the director. The blast just set them in overdrive.  This cells could infect other creatures too  I assume?

[dragon53]

GODZILLA MINUS ONE---director Takashi Yamazaki commented on Godzilla's design, "We wanted to make Godzilla very, very cool for this film. The head is on the smaller side, the legs are very thick. When the feet are stomping on the ground, you can almost see the toes being raised, like a wild animal's. And we wanted impact for the audience, so there's an intense level of getting up close, personal and detailed, that you can't really do with a man in a suit."
He added, "In terms of polygon counts, we're talking millions that went into creating Godzilla this time. In terms of the skin texture, there was a dinosaur origin, but when it's wounded, a regeneration happens and there's a different texture, like you would see on any wound. We wanted a mix, brought in new layers that would make the look very unique.
We wanted to go back to the original reason for Godzilla's existence. The creature is a metaphor for nuclear weapons, so we mimicked the way a weapon would work inside of his body. Each element would come together and create an implosion, and that's when the blue rays would come out."

[dragon53]

"Godzilla Minus One wins big at Japanese Academy Awards, taking home Best Picture and 7 other awards.

While all the attention is on the Academy Awards this weekend, with films like Oppenheimer and The Holdovers looking to have huge nights this Sunday, the Japanese Academy Awards just took place on Friday and made a huge genre statement. Godzilla Minus One, one of the most celebrated releases of last year, just won its coveted Best Picture along with seven other awards.

The other major wins include Best Screenplay (Takashi Yamazaki), Best Supporting Actress (Sakura Ando), Best Cinematography (Kozo Shibasaki), and Best Editing (Ryuji Miyajima). The epic film also won for Best Lighting, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound. It's a monstrous statement, given there were 12 categories in total. This is in stark contrast to its American counterpart, which only saw GodzillaMinus One nominated for Best Visual Effects, a category where it feels like it's a sure frontrunner. Many moviegoers, especially those in the horror monster-loving community, felt like it should have been considered and nominated for Best Picture. That's how brilliant Godzilla Minus One truly was. This feat also beats out Toho's last entry in the series Shin Godzilla in 2017, which won seven total awards. That included Best Picture as well."


source: collider

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

In case anyone was looking, BBTS, EE, and a few other online stores have put the rare blue variant Ichibanso/Banpresto minus one up for preorder :

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/270174?o=1



Much better to get it for 120.00 vs 500 on the secondary market. I was also proven incorrect , the blue spined version has larger spines in the "cocked" position. I had originally assumed it did not and they were just blue.