GODZILLA MINUS ONE Director Discusses the Franchise, His Film, and Why He Initially Turned Down Directing It
I’m pretty stoked about watching Toho’s upcoming Godzilla Minus One movie, which recently had its world premiere at the Tokyo Film Festival. It just looks like a great Godzilla movie, and during a recent interview with Deadline, filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki talked about the franchise, and his film and explained why he previously turned down the opportunity to direct it several times.
The film is set in a post-war Japan, “Godzilla Minus One will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force. After the war, Japan's economic state has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state."
When talking about his relationship with the franchise and when he was first introduced to Godzilla, Yamazaki shared that Godzilla is what led him to become a filmmaker:
“There was once a time when Toho kaiju movies, including Godzilla, were broadcast when professional baseball games were canceled due to rain, and I believe that was how my relationship with Godzilla began. Eventually, I learned through comics that there were people who made monster movies as a career, and that is what led me to my current job as a filmmaker.”
When talking about how this Godzilla project came to him, he opened up about how he initially turned down the offer to direct it and what it was that changed his mind and finally made him decide to take it on:
“I had been approached several times but turned it down until my team’s technology was capable of expressing the Godzilla I had envisioned. After seeing Shin Godzilla, my motivation increased, and my technology evolved considerably. I was once again formally approached and decided to give it a try.”
The director is then asked about the differences between America’s version of Godzilla and what Toho has done with the monster over the, and he responds, saying:
“Toho’s Godzilla is pictured as both a monster and a god, while American-produced Godzilla seems to have a more monstrous flavor.”
Toho has always made the better Godzilla movies. Legendary Studios has been dropping the ball on the franchise here in the United States, but they’ve got a new series coming with Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and another movie Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which might be decent. We’ll just have to wait and see.
When previously sharing some insights into what fans we can expect to see in Godzilla Minus One, the filmmaker said:
"I have always had the imagery that Godzilla is a nuclear threat, or the shadow of war in the form of a monster. So if I was allowed to it [his own Godzilla film], I wanted to do it in that era [post WWII]."
"Post-war Japan has lost everything. The film depicts an existence that gives unprecedented despair. The title Godzilla Minus One was created with this in mind. In order to depict this, the staff and I have worked together to create a setting where Godzilla looks as if 'fear' itself is walking toward us, and where despair is piled on top of despair."
Godzilla Minus One will get a theatrical release in the United States on December 1st.
