Godzilla Minus One Black And White Version - Release Date And More Info

"Godzilla Minus One" is one of the best Godzilla movies of all time. At times a riff on "Jaws," it's also an homage to the 1954 original movie and technically a sequel to "Oppenheimer." Yes, the 33rd film in the franchise feels radically different and yet comfortably familiar. It uses a post-war setting to tell another story of humanity's first meeting with the King of Monsters, bringing back the original film's nuclear imagery by giving an update to Godzilla's atomic breath. This helps turn the titular kaiju into a terrifying force of nature bringing about divine punishment. 

Perhaps the biggest achievement of "Godzilla Minus One" is how it does the unthinkable and makes you care about the puny humans being crushed by the giant monster. Again, the post-war setting gives the film a historical background to mine meaningful drama, with the protagonist being a failed kamikaze pilot with survivor's guilt trying to make sense of the pointless deaths of everyone around him.

It's no wonder that the film was an incredible box-office hit both in Japan and in the U.S., and it's about to get even bigger. Toho International wants to keep the party going by releasing a black-and-white version of the film so you can feel closer to the terror of the original "Godzilla." The title, of course, is "Godzilla Minus One Minus Color."

"Godzilla Minus One" premiered in Japan on November 3, 2023, and was already a big hit by the time it got released in the U.S. on December 1. It has since become the highest-grossing Japanese "Godzilla" film and the highest-grossing Japanese film in the U.S. ever, behind the current record-holder, "Pokémon: The First Movie."

"Godzilla Minus One Minus Color" will release in the United States on January 26, 2024, when it will play in theaters for one week only. According to Toho, all versions of the film will leave theaters after February 1, so mark your calendars.

Director Takashi Yamazaki said in a press release that he wants audiences to know this is not a simple black-and-white version. "Our colorist took the time and care to go through a very meticulous and complex process," he said. "The black-and-white images make Godzilla look very realistic and documentary-like, which leads to even more fear." The filmmaker added:

"Even though we have seen 'Godzilla Minus One' many times, we felt that something completely different appeared here -and it's very scary! So this is not only for those who liked 'Godzilla Minus One' but also those who are seeing it for the first time – they should definitely see this black-and-white version. Especially the scene at the beginning where Godzilla appears in the night – it is so terrifying that it made my knees shake!'

"Godzilla Minus One" is written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who also does the visual effects for the film. When talking to /Film, Yamazaki recounted how he was influenced by "Star Wars" to become a filmmaker due to its groundbreaking visual effects, and expressed his desire to make a film set in the galaxy far, far away. "I'm really hoping I will get a call and they will bring me on 'Star Wars,'" he told us.

The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as the former kamikaze pilot Kōichi Shikishima, Minami Hamabe as Noriko Ōishi, Shikishima's partner. Shikishima works on board a minesweeping vessel with Shirō Mizushima (Yuki Yamada), Sōsaku Tachibana (Munetaka Aoki), Kenji Noda (Hidetaka Yoshioka) and Yōji Akitsu (Kuranosuke Sasaki).

There is currently no news of a sequel to "Godzilla Minus One," even though the film teases more horror to come in its final moments.