Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe brought “Godzilla Minus Zero” to the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival on Nov. 1, two days before the sequel’s Nov. 3 Japan release and five days before its Nov. 6 North American opening.
The two stars had just returned from the film’s Los Angeles premiere with a story to tell, and the stage appearance gave Tokyo fans a direct line to the on-screen family behind one of the franchise’s biggest recent hits.
What happened at the Tokyo festival
The film played as the festival’s centerpiece selection, filling two sold-out screenings, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Costumed fans carried Godzilla figurines into the theater, and the usually reserved festival crowd burst into applause when the credits rolled on the second showing.
Onstage, Kamiki and Hamabe looked back at the Oct. 28 premiere at Los Angeles’ TCL Chinese Theatre, which ended in a standing ovation. Kamiki recalled fans along the public red carpet waving posters for autographs and shouting director Takashi Yamazaki’s first name, according to Variety.
“The energy was simply extraordinary,” Kamiki said of the Los Angeles crowd, adding that the night reminded him how much Godzilla means to fans around the world.
A first stage appearance for a returning young star
The Tokyo event also gave 6-year-old Sae Nagatani her first stage appearance. She’s back as Akiko, the adopted daughter of Kamiki’s and Hamabe’s characters. Her part in “Godzilla Minus One” didn’t go much beyond tears and the odd word, but the sequel hands her real lines, and Kamiki said she arrived on set with every one of them memorized.
Hamabe said she was amazed by how much Nagatani had grown since the first film, calling her “very dependable in her acting.”
Toho sets the new film in 1949, two years after the events of “Godzilla Minus One.” Kamiki cited the same gap onstage, while Hamabe’s estimate ran a little longer, at two to three years.
What the festival stop means for the rollout
The Tokyo appearance landed at a pointed moment in the film’s release calendar. It came after the Sept. 26 world premiere at the New York Film Festival and the Los Angeles premiere, and days before the film’s openings in two major markets. Putting Kamiki and Hamabe onstage gave the sequel a final burst of attention in its home country.
For fans, the festival stop signals that “Godzilla Minus Zero” is arriving with the same crossover attention its predecessor earned. “Godzilla Minus One” took in more than 7.65 billion yen ($50 million) in Japan and more than $116 million worldwide on a budget of under $15 million. It became the first Asian production to win the Academy Award for best visual effects and earned more than 50 awards in Japan and overseas.
“Godzilla Minus Zero” also carries a notable technical distinction: Toho and GKIDS bill it as the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX.
Early reception and reviews
Reviews have been strong ahead of the wide release. The film held 92% on Rotten Tomatoes from 52 reviews as of Nov. 1, along with a 78 on Metacritic. Letterboxd users gave it an average of 4 out of 5 stars.
The Hollywood Reporter’s chief critic, David Rooney, called the film a “radioactive blast” in his New York review and credited Yamazaki with outdoing the spectacle of “Godzilla Minus One.”
What’s next
The film’s Japan release falls on Nov. 3, known to fans as Godzilla Day for the 1954 original’s opening. GKIDS opens it across North America on Nov. 6, following IMAX early-access screenings on Nov. 3.
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