Major Japanese studio Toho Co. has announced “Godzilla Minus One” as the title of the latest instalment in its “Godzilla” film franchise.
The film will premiere in Japanese theaters on Nov. 4. A U.S. release is set a few weeks later, on Dec. 1.
The company revealed an understated poster and a short but punchy teaser trailer. It suggests that an already-devastated postwar Japan faces a new threat in the form of Godzilla, an enormous, mutated kaiju.
Directed by sci-fi and fantasy specialist Yamazaki Takashi, the picture is the first Japanese-produced “Godzilla” movie since 2016’s “Shin Godzilla.”The previous picture topped the Japanese box office, earning JPY25 billion ($181 million at current exchange rates).
The Japanese release date is exactly 69 years after the first Honda Ishiro-directed “Gojira” movie opened in Japan in 1954. Since then, over 35 films have been made starring the “King of Monsters,” which has resulted in a multi-billion-dollar franchise and global fandom over several decades.
Toho owns the intellectual property and has licensed it for more than a decade to Hollywood’s Legendary Entertainment.
Legendary’s ‘Monsterverse’ has hatched the 2014 Gareth Edwards-directed “Godzilla” as well as the 2019 Michael Dougherty-directed “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” and the 2021 Adam Wingard-directed “Godzilla vs. Kong.” Those films have been co-distributed with Warner Bros.
“Godzilla” has become a household name and has been featured in stand-alone books, comics, TV series, countless lines of consumer products, and merchandize.
Deals between Toho and Legendary were renewed and expanded in 2020, bringing in partners including Playmates (toys) Bioworld (apparel and accessories), Rubies (costumes), Funko (consumer products), 60out (interactive live-action escape room producer, and VR content supplier Virtual Reality Company.
Toho announced that it is preparing for the release of the new picture by launching a U.S.-based e-commerce store, dedicated to providing fans with original Japanese merchandize.
Watch the U.S. version of the “Godzilla Minus One” teaser trailer here:https://youtu.be/YlceGpbGgvE
