Godzilla Minus One, the latest installment in Toho’s long-running mega-monster franchise and the Tokyo International Film Festival’s closing title, has locked down distribution in the U.K. and Ireland. Glasgow-based distributor Anime Ltd. has picked up the action movie for a Dec. 15 release.
Anime Ltd. plans to open the film at 200 to 250 locations, which makes it the company’s biggest live-action release to date. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Godzilla franchise and Godzilla Minus One is the first fully Japanese-made film in the series since 2016.
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Godzilla Minus One is written and directed by noted CG animator and VFX artist Takashi Yamazaki (Lupin III: The First, The Great War of Archimedes). The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki. The film is actually Yamazaki’s third on-screen depiction of Godzilla, following his previous use of the character with CG imagery in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007) and Seibu-en’s Godzilla the Ride (2021). The new film is a period Godzilla pic, set in the early years after World War 2.
Toho’s official story summary for the film reads: “After the war, Japan’s economic state has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state.”
Godzilla Minus One held its world premiere in Japan on Oct.18 and will open theatrically in the country on Nov. 3. Toho International will also release the film in North America on Nov. 1. It is the 37th title in the Godzilla franchise.
Anime Ltd. is best known as a distributor of Japanese anime, having recently handled the U.K. and Ireland release of hit titles in the genre like One Piece Film: Red and The First Slam Dunk.
