The team behind the best Godzilla movie in years is going to make another one. Takashi Yamazaki, who wrote, directed, and oversaw the VFX for Godzilla Minus One, revealed today in a brief video teaser that his team has been greenlit to work on a second Godzilla.
“Hello everyone, I have wonderful news,” Yamazaki said in a new vlog shared online on Friday. “I’ll be directing a new Godzilla film. Please stay tuned.” The message was short and sweet from a filmmaker who previously demonstrated his penchant for direct and economical storytelling on a global stage with his 2023 monster classic.
While there’s no word on a title, premise, or release date, the news is enough to get fans excited after Godzilla Minus One proved there’s still plenty of gas left in the Kaiju tank. Its sparring yet excellent special effects combined with a humorous but tragic plot snagged it an Oscar earlier this year and tons of acclaim from other storied directors like Steven Spielberg.
The Japanese language movie grossed over $100 million on a $10 million budget. And while Yamazaki has been making movies for decades, the next Godzilla could end up being his biggest budget production yet. Whether that becomes purely additive or risks diluting the team’s creative vision will be the big test.
Godzilla Minus One tells an origin story of the giant lizard that takes place shortly after World War II as Japan recovers from a devastating bombing campaign that included two nuclear strikes. The citizens navigate post-war politics and personal trauma to defeat the monster, only for it to secretly begin reconstituting itself beneath the ocean waves. Whether Yamazaki’s movie ends up being a direct sequel or just another riff on the long-standing premise, it’s going to be one to watch out for.