Great news, King of All Monsters titles: Oscar-winning director Takashi Yamazaki is coming back to earth Godzilla.
This morning, as Yamazaki’s record producer Godzilla Minus One returns to theaters in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the original 1954 classic, Toho has confirmed that it has greenlit a new Godzilla film with Yamazaki in charge. As he did with Remove OneYamazaki will write, direct, and direct the VFX. No other details were announced about the movie, including whether or not Yamazaki’s new project will be a direct sequel. Godzilla Minus One or a new, independent entry in a broader franchise.
URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT pic.twitter.com/YhfztQgu0Z
— GODZILLA.OFFICIAL (@Godzilla_Toho) November 1, 2024
Remove One concluded with the seemingly slain monster due to the efforts of former kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) before he destroyed Japan after the war, but its final moments teased Godzilla slowly waking up from his mortal wounds in the depths of the ocean—as well as a possible reason is an accident that causes the miraculous survival of Shikishima’s love, Noriko (Shin Kamen Rider‘s Minami Hamabe), who Yamazaki recently revealed would perish at the beginning of the film.
“Truth be told, the first draft, Noriko dies. So I read it over and over, and I thought, ‘Can we really do that to Shikishima?’” Yamazaki told fans at a New York Comic Con panel last month celebrating 70 years of Godzilla movies. “After all those journeys, all the hills and mountains he had to climb, defeating Godzilla, he would come home, and no one? That would be very disastrous.” It was only during filming that Yamazaki decided to put VFX marks on Hamabe’s neck, and he decided to tease the dark cost that might be in his survival in the form of a wound that rises up his neck as he and Shikishima embrace in the final moments of the film.
We’ll have to wait and see if Yamazaki plans to follow that up, or if he takes Godzilla in an entirely new direction. But we are very happy to see him working with a big star in cinema again. We will bring you more of Yamazaki’s plans for Godzilla as we learn about them.
Looking for more io9 news? Check out when you can expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe in film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
