Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” drew a wave of Oscar talk after its Saturday premiere at the New York Film Festival, with early reactions calling the kaiju sequel strong enough to compete in the Academy’s top category. The film follows “Godzilla Minus One,” which won the Oscar for best visual effects in 2024 on a budget of just $15 million, beating out bigger-budget contenders including “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Napoleon.” That victory made Yamazaki the first feature director honored in the visual effects category since Stanley Kubrick.
Asked at the premiere whether “Minus Zero” could land a best picture nomination, Yamazaki told Variety he tries not to dwell on award prospects, recalling that even a VFX nomination for the first film felt like a win at the time. Still, he acknowledged the pull of the moment, saying he holds “a little bit of hope” given how the odds have shifted since the original’s surprise run.
Set in 1949, two years after the events of “Minus One,” the sequel continues the story of the Shikishima family as they confront a new and larger version of the monster, this time rampaging through New York City. The film marks the franchise’s first R rating, a choice Yamazaki defended as necessary to render its action honestly rather than softening it for a broader audience. It also became the first Japanese feature shot specifically for IMAX screens.
Critics at the festival were largely enthusiastic, though not unanimous. Several reviewers praised the film’s visual craftsmanship and emotional weight while noting it doesn’t quite match the tightness of its predecessor. The original “Godzilla Minus One” went on to become the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla film ever made, pulling in $116 million worldwide and drawing public admiration from directors including Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.
Yamazaki, who began his career in visual effects before moving into directing, said he sees the franchise as a mirror for contemporary anxieties, a theme he carried into the new film’s larger scale. “Godzilla Minus Zero” opens in U.S. theaters November 6, following its Japanese release three days earlier, positioning it to enter the awards conversation just as voters begin narrowing their picks for the winter season.
