Godzilla Minus One was one of the most unexpected mainstream hits of 2023. Now, director Takashi Yamazaki’s much acclaimed take on the King of the Monsters is taking a well-deserved victory lap. To that end, the film had itself a huge night at Japan’s Academy Awards, sweeping just about every one of the major categories, including Best Picture.
The Japanese Academy Awards, formally known as The Japan Academy Film Prize, was very kind to Godzilla Minus One, with the film taking home a total of eight prizes, per Godzilla.com. Aside from Best Picture, Yamazaki was awarded for his work on the screenplay, though he did not win Best Director. But Yamazaki had nothing to be sad about as his kaiju flick cleaned up. So, just how well did the movie do? Here is the full list of awards that it walked away with:
- Best Picture
- Best Screenplay: Takashi Yamazaki
- Best Supporting Actress: Sakura Ando
- Best Cinematography: Kozo Shibasaki
- Best Lighting: Nariyuki Ueda
- Best Art Direction: Anri Jojo
- Best Sound: Hisafumi Takeuchi
- Best Editing: Ryuji Miyajima
That’s a mighty impressive showing. But that’s not even all of it! During the ceremony, the late producer Shuji Abe was honored with the Chairman's Special Award for his work on the film. It could, in all, prove to be a huge weekend for Minus One as the movie is also nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards here in the U.S. Amazingly enough, it marks the first time in the 70 year history of Godzilla that any film in the franchise has earned an Oscar nomination. It’s got a great shot at becoming the franchise’s first winner as well.
Godzilla Minus One made a hugely impressive $107 million worldwide, including nearly $57 million in North America. That was by far a record for a Japanese-language Godzilla movie in the U.S., which speaks volumes about the sheer quality of the picture at hand. The movie was originally supposed to play for just a week in the States but due to sheer demand and strong word of mouth, it screened for months, with a black and white version also hitting screens towards the end of its run.
Godzilla Minus One does not currently have a streaming or Blu-ray release date but stay tuned as those should be coming sooner rather than later. But you can tune into the Academy Awards this Sunday, March 10, on ABC to see if the movie takes home a history-making Oscar.
