Will Takashi Yamazaki Make a Third Godzilla Movie? The ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ Director Is Torn
When ‘Godzilla Minus One‘ arrived in 2023, few expected a Japanese monster movie made for roughly $15 million to become a global phenomenon. It grossed more than $100 million and won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, which put director Takashi Yamazaki at the center of every conversation about another Godzilla film. Now that the sequel is in theaters, the question fans keep asking has shifted from whether there will be a second film to whether there will be a third.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ opened in Japan on November 3 and in North America on November 6 through GKIDS. It is a direct sequel set 2 years after the events of its predecessor, and it brings King Ghidorah into Yamazaki’s postwar world. In North America it opened with $31 million, earned an A CinemaScore from audiences and landed well above the distributor’s projected opening in the mid-$20 millions.
With numbers like that, it is natural to ask whether the filmmaker will complete a trilogy. Yamazaki told The Hollywood Reporter that the odds are “about fifty-fifty at this point.” It is not a promise, but it is far from a refusal.
His reasoning is that he is genuinely happy with the film’s current ending. He explained that it leaves the interpretation to the audience, letting viewers decide what they want to take home from the theater. He also admitted that if ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ turned out to be his final Godzilla film, he would feel a little sad about it.
Whatever happens next, Yamazaki’s calendar is already filling up. He said he has other films lined up, starting with ‘Grandgear’, followed by a few more. That film marks his first English-language project and is being made with Sony and J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot.
‘Grandgear’ is set to reach theaters on January 14, 2028, after Sony moved it up from its original February 18 date. The cast includes Sam Nivola, Nico Parker and Paul Giamatti, and the film has been described as a giant-robot story with a kaiju twist. It is a big pivot for a filmmaker best known for monsters, though the scale of the premise suggests he is not leaving spectacle behind.
Even so, Yamazaki made clear that Godzilla is not behind him for good. He said that at some point in his career he would love to revisit the monster and see how the world can be expanded. Earlier remarks suggest the same openness, with Yamazaki saying he would probably say yes if Toho came to him with another offer.
The same interview sheds light on how Yamazaki approached this sequel. He said a lot of producers and big names in Hollywood reached out after ‘Godzilla Minus One’, and there were projects he would have jumped on right away. Even so, he chose not to tailor a film for American fans of the first movie.
Instead, he wanted to tell a story that felt important at home right now. He also tried to ignore the pressure of following an Oscar winner, telling his team to relax rather than clench their fists. That mindset seems to have paid off, with The Hollywood Reporter’s review calling the film a crackling kaiju epic that is every bit as exciting as its predecessor.
The new trailer for ‘GODZILLA MINUS ZERO’ has been released. In theaters on November 6. https://t.co/sgaEXweerd
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 8, 2026
The broader Godzilla landscape is not slowing down either. Warner Bros.’ own Western series continues with ‘Godzilla x Kong: Supernova’, set for March 26, 2027. That means audiences will soon have both Japanese and Hollywood visions of the monster to compare.
For Yamazaki, though, the immediate future looks like giant robots rather than giant lizards. If the response to ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ keeps growing, the pressure to complete the story will only increase. Toho has a hit on its hands, and few filmmakers are better placed to decide how the King of the Monsters returns.
What would you prefer?
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