“Godzilla Minus One” Trailer Unleashes Cinema’s Most Iconic Monster in New Japanese Film

The first domestic Japanese Godzilla film in seven years is stomping toward theaters in the U.S. The trailer for Godzilla Minus One reveals writer/director Takashi Yamazaki’s vision for a new Godzilla film, as the iconic kaiju surfaces from the depths of the ocean and unleashes his fury on post-war Japan.

Godzilla Minus One is the 37th installment in Toho’s venerable franchise, with Yamazaki crafting a period piece that looks at what happens to Japan as it’s recovering from the horrors of World War II and is suddenly faced with a new adversary, “baptized in the horrific power of the atom bomb.”

It’s a decidedly different Godzilla from the previous incarnations we’ve seen in the American-made Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla (2014) in that this kaiju does not seem like a misunderstood protector of the natural order. Instead, it appears to be more an incarnation of vengeance, even war itself. And that’s before it unveils its atomically charged powers.

Yamazaki is a brilliant VFX artist and CG animator in his own right, having worked on The Great War of Archimedes and Lupin III: The First. This is the third time he’s set his sights on the most iconic movie monster of them all, having deployed Godzilla in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007) and Godzilla the Ride (2021).

Godzilla Minus One recently closed the Tokyo International Film Festival and stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki.

Check out the trailer below. Godzilla Minus One hits theaters on December 1.

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Featured image: “Godzilla Minus One.” Courtesy Toho.