‘Godzilla Minus One’ Director Takashi Yamazaki Screened His Kaiju Movie for Lucasfilm
After previously expressing interest in working on a Star Wars movie, Godzilla Minus One director Takashi Yamazaki has recently screened his critically-acclaimed kaiju film on Lucasfilm’s lot, potentially indicating the possibility of a future collaboration.
August Ragone, a longtime fan of Godzilla and Star Wars alike, the host of the first-ever American anime and tokusatsu convention in 1979, and the author of a biography of Godzilla and Ultraman co-creator Eiji Tsuburaya, recently attended a screening of Godzilla Minus One attended by the director himself. The event was put together by Lucasfilm’s own Chief Creative Officer and Executive Vice President Dave Filoni and Senior Pipeline Technical Director Kenneth Ibrahim. You can read Ragone’s post about the screening below:
Great #GodzillaMinusOne screening tonite @ #Lucasfilm. Was introduced to director Yamazaki after the Q&A. He was also gracious enough to sign my copy of the Jpn theater program. A Godzillian thanks to Ken Ibrahim & #DaveFiloni! More tomorrow! #Godzilla #Kaiju #ILMVFX pic.twitter.com/WkK9gGx1OQ
— August Ragone (@RagoneAugust) January 10, 2024
As it stands, this could mean a multitude of things for the future of Star Wars – Lucasfilm reps could be very impressed with the film and push for him to develop his own project in the long-running franchise, or this may be a one-off screening that doesn’t necessarily result in a new Star Wars story told by a Japanese filmmaker. Still, it also would not be the first time that Lucasfilm sought out Japanese talent – Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy and Filoni previously trekked to Japan to meet with Star Wars Visions: The Ninth Jedi animators Production I.G for unspecified reasons, but likely to talk about future possibilities for Visions or other projects set in the galaxy far, far away. Aside from his interest in Star Wars, Takashi Yamazaki has noted that he’s interested in the possibility of making a direct sequel to Godzilla Minus One, which the movie’s reception would certainly invite as a possibility.
In the immediate aftermath World War II, mere weeks after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the firebombings of cities like Tokyo, the nation was left in ruins was put at a state of zero as it surrendered to the Allies – and the arrival of Godzilla takes the country to a state of minus one. Godzilla Minus One is set over the course of two years, as a failed kamikaze pilot returns to what’s left of his home after an encounter with a giant monster he saw on a remote island. Amidst the devastation of Tokyo, he finds a new life with a woman he met on a chance encounter and an orphaned girl who they look after. As he becomes a minesweeper to atone for his guilt over the war and to provide for his family, the man discovers that the monster he encountered is alive and more dangerous than ever, being empowered by nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll. With both the United States and the Soviet Union locked in the Cold War, outside assistance is impossible – and the man and his allies have to act fast to stop Godzilla from bringing untold devastation to a people who have already suffered greatly.
On top of receiving widespread critical acclaim, Godzilla Minus One proved to be a kaiju-sized sleeper hit at the domestic box office; it is set to clear $50M in the American and Canadian markets this weekend, collectively making them the largest source of revenue than its impressive $35M+ haul in Japan. With a budget of under $15M, the film is set to be one of the most profitable in the entire franchise, and one of the highest-grossing Japanese-language films outside of its native market. Takashi Yamazaki definitely proved his stripes with a movie that made its human drama as compelling as the monster action was awe-inspiring to watch, and it would be wonderful to see Lucasfilm give him an opportunity to work on a larger stage – especially given how much of the Star Wars franchise’s DNA is indebted to Japanese culture and cinema.
Godzilla Minus One is still playing in select theaters.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
