Godzilla Minus One has surpassed 2016’s Shin Godzilla at the global box office, making it the biggest entry in Toho’s blockbuster series of films.
What great news to start the year with. Godzilla Minus One (which we were big fans of) is now the biggest Godzilla film of all time.
As Dark Horizons reports, Godzilla Minus One’s impressive $78 million haul at the global box office puts it ahead of Shin Godzilla, which made $76 million back in 2016. Godzilla Minus One had a reported budget of only $15 million, making the achievement even more impressive.
In the US, Godzilla Minus One holds the most successful opening of any Japanese film ever. It also overtook Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth as the sixth highest grossing foreign film ever in the country. We can’t imagine Guillermo is too upset though – he seems to love the film.
You may be wondering, how did Godzilla Minus One become so successful? Well, the incredibly enthusiastic reviews probably helped. In our 5-star review, we said: “This feels like a proper, old-school Godzilla film where Godzilla is allowed to be the villain of the story again. The human characters are compelling, but never steal the thunder from our favourite atomic lizard. If Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters left you wanting more Godzilla, Godzilla Minus One scratches that itch and then some.”
I’m sure you’re all wondering the same thing; will there be a sequel to Godzilla Minus One? There’s no official word on one quite just yet, but director Takashi Yamazaki has expressed his interest in returning to the world of Godzilla to helm another film.
“My honest feelings, I would like to see a continuation of those people’s story. If I could make it [A Godzilla Minus One sequel], I would like to make a movie that involves what happens to them after that,” the director mused at Q&A.
There has been almost an overabundance of Godzilla in recent years. 2023 alone saw Godzilla Minus One and Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters bring the monster on screens small and large, and who could forget this year’s Godzilla Vs. Kong sequel, subtitled The New Empire. We can only hope future instalments of the franchise are as pitch perfect as Godzilla Minus One.
