The first English-subtitled trailer for Godzilla Minus Zero, Takashi Yamazaki’s sequel to the acclaimed Godzilla Minus One, hints that humanity’s battle with the monster is far from over, writes Deadline.
“We didn’t finish the job like we thought,” the trailer’s opening line warns.
Set in Japan in 1949, two years after the events of Godzilla Minus One, the new film follows Kōichi Shikishima, the former kamikaze pilot played by Ryunosuke Kamiki. Although Shikishima appeared to defeat Godzilla in the previous film, the trailer recalls that a part of the creature was seen regenerating as it sank into the ocean.
The film’s logline further raises the stakes, suggesting that a new threat will strike just as humanity begins to enjoy a hard-won peace.
“There is no third time. Everything ends here,” it states.
Kamiki returns alongside Minami Hamabe, who reprises her role as Shikishima’s wife, Noriko. Yuki Yamada, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando and Miou Tanaka are also part of the returning cast.
Masami Nagasawa joins the sequel as Ms Aoyama, described as a “forecasting prodigy” who proposes an alternative plan to deal with the threat.
Godzilla Minus One won the Academy Award for best visual effects in 2024. Made on a relatively modest budget, the film earned $113.9 million worldwide, with its domestic and international earnings almost evenly split.
Yamazaki, who also handled the visual effects for the sequel, became the first director to win the visual-effects Oscar since Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1969.
Godzilla Minus Zero is also the first Japanese production filmed for Imax. It will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 26 before screening as the centrepiece of the Tokyo Film Festival in November.
The film is scheduled to open in North American cinemas on 6 November.
