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Godzilla Minus Zero Earns Highest-Ever Opening Day for Live-Action Film in Japan

TOHO announced on Wednesday that Godzilla Minus Zero, the new Godzilla film from Godzilla Minus One's Takashi Yamazaki, has sold 590,000 tickets for 910 million yen (about US$5.75 million) in Japan in its opening day alone, setting a new record for the highest opening day earnings for a live-action film (among both foreign and domestic live-action films) in Japan.

The film had 201% higher opening day earnings than its predecessor Godzilla Minus One.

The film opened in Japan on Tuesday, November 3, which is "Godzilla Day" in Japan, celebrating the anniversary of the first Godzilla film's November 3, 1954 release. Godzilla Minus One similarly opened in Japan on November 3, 2023. (Godzilla Day fell on a Tuesday this year, but it is also the Japanese holiday known as Culture Day.) 

The sequel is set in 1949, two years after the Godzilla Minus One film's story.

Min Tanaka (47 Ronin, live-action Rurouni Kenshin films) plays biologist Kanji Murakami. He joined returning cast members Ryūnosuke Kamiki (Koichi Shikishima), Minami Hamabe (Noriko Ōishi), and Hidetaka Yoshioka (Noda) from Godzilla Minus One. Also returning in the cast are Yūki Yamada (Shiro Mizushima), Kuranosuke Sasaki (Seiji Akitsu), Sakura Andō (Sumiko Ota), and Miō Tanaka (Tatsuo Ho tta).

Yamazaki returned as director, screenwriter, and VFX supervisor. Naoki Satō also returned to compose the music. Shirogumi Inc. handled the film's visual effects.

GKIDS and TOHO will release the film in North America on Friday, November 6. This is the first time a Japan-produced Godzilla film will open in Japan and in North America in the same week. 

This is the first Japanese film to meet the standard to advertise itself as "filmed for IMAX." In addition to opening in Japan and North America, it will open in the same week in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand. The companies stated they will announce additional international release dates at a later time. TOHO acquired GKIDS in October 2024. 

Godzilla Minus One has earned more than US$116 million worldwide. According to Box Office Mojo, the film has earned an estimated US$57,144,669 in the United States. The film was the third highest-grossing foreign-language film in the United States as of 2024. 

Netflix is streaming the film and Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, the black-and-white version of the film, worldwide on Netflix. In North America, Godzilla Minus One and Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color are additionally available for digital rental and digital purchase on Amazon, Apple iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft, FandangoNOW/VUDU, inDemand, XBOX, and Vubiquity. In Japan, the film is streaming exclusively (in color and monochrome) on Amazon Prime Video.

Godzilla Minus One won the Best Visual Effects award in the 96th Academy Awards in March 2024. The film is the first Japanese film to win in this category, and the first Godzilla film to be nominated for an Oscar. 

Yamazaki's first English-language film Grandgear was originally slated to open on February 18, 2028, but Sony Pictures recently moved up its release date to January 14, 2028.

Sources: Godzilla Minus Zero X/Twitter account, Godzilla franchise's website via Hachima Kikō