Toho is celebrating the smash hit success of their new movie Godzilla Minus One with a “minus color” version of the movie in theaters over in Japan next month, we’ve learned!
The brand new black & white version of Godzilla Minus One will open in Japanese theaters on January 12, 2024, with no word yet on a release here in the United States.
Toho’s Godzilla Minus One, written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, sees an already devastated post-World War II Japan facing a new threat in the form of Godzilla.
Yamazaki said in a new statement tonight, “We are now able to announce Godzilla-1.0/C, which we have been working on for a long time. Rather than just making it monochrome, it is a cut by cut. I had them make adjustments while making full use of various mattes, as if they were creating a new movie. What I was aiming for was a style that looked like it was taken by masters of monochrome photography. We were able to unearth the texture of the skin and the details of the scenery that were hidden in the photographed data. Then, a frightening Godzilla, just like the one in the documentary, appeared. By eliminating color, a new sense of reality emerges. Please live and resist further fear at the theater.”
Watch the trailer for the monochrome version of Godzilla Minus One below, which evokes the classic black & white spirit of Toho’s original Godzilla movie from back in 1954.
Matt Donato writes in his 4.5 star review for Bloody Disgusting, “Minus One is a blessing to Toho’s kaiju franchise and a towering accomplishment for the entire kaiju subgenre.”
The rave review continues, “After thirty-plus films and nearly seventy years, Toho confidently delivers one of their best Godzilla movies to date.”
The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki, with music by Naoki Sato.
Godzilla Minus One is rated PG-13 for “creature violence and action.”