“It wasn’t just a polite ‘Takashi,’” said Kamiki Ryunosuke. “It was like: ‘TAKASHI! HEY, TAKASHI!’ It was roaring.” He was describing the red carpet outside the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, where the director of Godzilla Minus One found a crowd chanting his first name.
Two days later Kamiki was in Tokyo, on stage at the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival with co-star Hamabe Minami, still carrying the glow. The occasion was Godzilla Minus Zero, Yamazaki Takashi’s follow-up, which opens in Japan on November 3 and in the US on November 6 through GKids.
A premiere that would not stop applauding
Applause in the 900-seat theater reportedly ran on without a break. The red carpet was open to passersby, Kamiki recalled, and some fans held up large posters and asked for autographs. When Yamazaki went over to sign, the crowd erupted again. Kamiki came away convinced that “Takashi of the world is truly amazing.” Hamabe said the cast later met premiere-goers at an after-party, where some wore Godzilla outfits or badges.
The festival also saw the first stage appearance of Nagatani Sae, who returns as Shikishima Akiko. In the first film her part was mostly crying and single words. This time she has full dialogue, and Kamiki admitted the cast wondered whether she could manage it. “But when we got on set, she had all her lines memorized perfectly and delivered them flawlessly.”
According to Kamiki, the story picks up two years after the events of the first film. Hamabe put the gap at two to three years, with the family settled into everyday life before Godzilla resurfaces.
The director behind the chant
Yamazaki, born in Matsumoto, Nagano, in 1964, has worked at the visual effects and animation studio Shirogumi since 1986. His first features as director were the science fiction films Juvenile (2000) and Returner (2002), which earned him the nickname “Japanese James Cameron”. Western critics were less kind to Returner, accusing it of borrowing from American science fiction.
His breakthrough came when he left the genre behind for Always: Sunset on Third Street (2005), which won twelve awards at the 29th Japanese Academy Awards, among them Best Picture and Best Director. His films have collectively grossed over $560 million worldwide.
Godzilla Minus One is the notable entry. It grossed $113m worldwide, and more than JPY7.65 billion ($50 million) at the Japanese box office. It was the first Asian production to take the visual effects prize at the 96th Oscars, and it collected more than 50 honors at home and abroad. Yamazaki became the first director since Stanley Kubrick to win a visual effects Oscar. For all the noise about budgets and Hollywood, that is the detail that matters.
The sequel has a distinction of its own. Minus Zero is the first Japanese film certified as Filmed for Imax.
Hollywood next
Yamazaki’s first English-language feature is Grandgear, a Sony Pictures project produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot with Glen Zipper. He wrote the original screenplay. Sam Nivola and Nico Parker are set to star, with Paul Giamatti reported to be in talks. According to Deadline, the two younger leads were chosen after a round of chemistry tests. Plot details are under wraps, though footage shown at CinemaCon teased giant robots squaring off against kaiju.
Production is expected to start in 2027. Sony recently moved the release up from February 18, 2028, to January 14, 2028.
Sources
- ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Stars Relive Hollywood Ovation and Fan Chants for Yamazaki Takashi at Tokyo Festival
- Takashi Yamazaki
- Godzilla Minus Zero director's English-language debut, mech movie Grandgear, just cast its leads
- ‘Godzilla Minus One’ director Takashi Yamazaki to make English-language debut on ‘Grandgear’
- Sam Nivola and Nico Parker to Lead Yamazaki Takashi's 'Grandgear'
- Sam Nivola, Nico Parker & Paul Giamatti To Star In 'Grandgear' Movie
Photo: Dodoeggs (CC BY-SA 4.0)
