Where Do The ‘Godzilla Minus’ Movies Go From Here?

Godzilla Minus Zero made its much-awaited debut this weekend, and once again, the King of the Monsters reigns supreme. Not only has Minus Zero received positive reviews, but it also took the top spot at the box office. Surely that means that a third movie is in the works, but writer and director Takashi Yamazaki recently revealed that the future of the Godzilla franchise is up in the air. 

“I would say it’s about fifty-fifty at this point. I’m quite satisfied and happy with the current ending we have,” Yamazaki told The Hollywood Reporter. “That being said, if Godzilla Minus Zero is my last Godzilla film, that would make me a bit sad.” Here’s where we get into spoiler territory, as Minus Zero ends on a note that could lead to a third movie but also is a solid ending in and of itself.

The following contains spoilers for Godzilla Minus Zero.

As fans now know, Godzilla Minus Zero finds Godzilla rising to combat one of his deadliest enemies: the three-headed dragon known as “King Ghidorah.” The battle ends with the King of the Monsters victorious, and the U.S. military holding off on delivering a killing strike as they view Godzilla as a potential weapon. Godzilla returns to the ocean to peacefully slumber; meaning that a future Godzilla movie can choose to deliver its own take on the Big G if Yamazaki doesn’t return, or that Yamazaki could develop a new story that sees Godzilla rising once again.

But what would that threat be? After all, Ghidorah is essentially Godzilla’s archnemesis – the Green Goblin to his Spider-Man or the Lex Luthor to his Superman. There actually is a monster in the Toho creature canon, however, that could let Yamazaki deliver a grand finale to the Minus movies and top Ghidorah in terms of menace: Destoroyah. 

Originally starting life as a colony of sea creatures, mutation transforms Destoroyah into a demonic creature that destroys everything in its path in 1995’s Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Not helping matters is the fact that Godzilla is slowly overheating with nuclear energy throughout the film, leading to his death. To continue the comic book analogy, if Ghidorah was Godzilla’s Lex Luthor then Destroyah is his Doomsday. That would be a more than fitting way to make the Minus movies a trilogy and let Yamazaki tell a complete story.

Yamazaki’s next project, while not Godzilla-related, could end up being just as important as his Minus offerings. Thanks to the success of Godzilla Minus Zero, Yamazaki received acclaim from legendary directors like Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg. Now J.J. Abrams has stepped up to produce Yamazaki’s upcoming film Grandgear, which will also double as his English-language debut. Details about Grandgear remain scarce, but if Yamazaki can bring the same sense of scale and human emotion to it that he did with Godzilla Minus Zero, then his career will reach an entirely new level.

Time will tell if a third Godzilla Minus movie will become a reality. But no matter what happens, Takashi Yamazaki has cemented himself as one of the best filmmakers ever to work with the King of the Monsters.