Toho has officially announced the title of the next Godzilla movie as “Godzilla -0.0” (Godzilla minus zero). The announcement was made at the annual Godzilla Festival in Tokyo and was confirmed via Toho’s official X account.
Takashi Yamazaki will once again serve as the scriptwriter, director, and VFX supervisor for this film, with VFX work by the Shirogumi team and production by Toho Studio and Robot, the same team that worked on 2023’s “Godzilla Minus One.” Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd.
The new “Godzilla” movie was teased almost exactly a year ago.
Director Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One” became a breakthrough hit in the series. It was released in Japan in November 2023 and grossed more than 7.65 billion yen ($50 million) locally, making it the highest-grossing live-action Godzilla movie in history. It grossed $56 million in North America, making it the highest grossing Japanese live-action film in history. The film later made history at the 96th Academy Awards, winning the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. It was the first Godzilla film to be nominated for an Academy Award, and the first Japanese feature film to win in the same category.
The series began in 1954 with Ishirō Honda’s Godzilla. The film was a brutal allegory of nuclear devastation and introduced audiences to the radioactive reptiles that would become Japan’s most enduring pop culture export. Since then, Toho has produced 33 live-action “Godzilla” films across various eras: Showa, Heisei, Millennium, and Reiwa, and the American studio has released five additional titles, including Legendary’s MonsterVerse.
Godzilla Minus One, set in post-World War II Japan, stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as Koichi Shikishima, a former kamikaze pilot who survives a near-death encounter with Godzilla and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Years later, when the giant beast reappears, a group of soldiers and veterans must band together to defeat the monster before it destroys Japan. The cast includes Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki.
With Godzilla -0.0, Toho seems to be hinting at a thematic reset implied by the “zero” in the title, as well as a continuation of director Yamazaki’s “minus” story. Although the synopsis and release date have not yet been announced, expectations are high for the King of the Monsters’ next powerful move.
