Steven Spielberg is a Huge Fan of GODZILLA MINUS ONE and The Director Talks About Meeting Him
Godzilla Minus One has made quite a big splash in Hollywood and is easily one of the best Kaiju monster films to date. It turns out that director Steven Spielberg is a huge fan of the film and he watched it three times to experience the greatness of it.
During an interview with AV Club, the director of Godzilla Minus One, Takashi Yamazaki, talked about meeting Spielberg and how Spielberg went out of his way to talk to him. Yamazaki and his team attended a luncheon ahead of the 96th Academy Awards. Godzilla Minus One is nominated for Best Visual Effects, and while at the event, Yamazaki said he was surprised when Spielberg made a beeline for him:
"Steven Spielberg said, 'Oh, you're the director of Godzilla. I saw it three times. I couldn't believe it, because Spielberg is like a god to me, just for what he's done for the film industry. But it sounded very real. [Spielberg went on to say,] 'I saw it once in my home, and then I had to go see it again in IMAX, then Dolby Atmos.' You can't make that up."
Yamazaki went on to say that his interaction with Spielberg was hard to process given how big a fan he is. He even explained that he looked to Jurassic Park for inspiration while making Godzilla Minus One. He shared:
"I wanted to have Godzilla appear during the daytime as well. And when the younger Godzilla shows up in the film, I kept telling myself, 'Don't make it like Jurassic Park. Don't make it like Jurassic Park.' But it kind of looked like Jurassic Park. So when I met Steven Spielberg, there was another version of me that was going, well, what if he says, 'You just ripped off all my films and I'm mad at you?' I couldn't say anything back.”
Spielberg’s films are what sparked my love for movies. Specifically, when I saw E.T. in theaters as a kid, my mind was blown, and since then, all I wanted to be was involved with movies in some way, shape, or form. I also had the opportunity to meet Spielberg once, and that was a pretty rad experience that I’ll never forget.
