Godzilla Minus Zero Eyes Best Picture After Rousing NYFF Premiere

Godzilla is coming for the Oscars — and this time, maybe not just the technical categories. Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus Zero drew serious awards talk after its Saturday, September 26 premiere at the New York Film Festival, with early reactions calling it strong enough to compete for Best Picture, according to reports.

The bar was set by its predecessor. Godzilla Minus One won the 2024 Oscar for Best Visual Effects on a $15 million budget — the first Godzilla film to win an Oscar — making Yamazaki the first feature director honored in the VFX category since Stanley Kubrick. It became the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla film ever at $116 million worldwide, drawing admiration from Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.

Yamazaki Dares to Dream

Yamazaki himself isn't ruling anything out. He told Variety he holds "a little bit of hope" for Best Picture, recalling that even a VFX nomination for the first film felt like a win at the time. It's a humble framing for what would be a genuinely historic achievement: a kaiju film in the Best Picture race.

Set in 1949, two years after Minus One, the sequel continues the Shikishima family's story as they confront a new, larger monster rampaging through New York City. The film carries the franchise's first R rating, which Yamazaki defended as necessary to render the action honestly — and it's the first Japanese feature shot specifically for IMAX screens.

The Verdict So Far

Critics were largely enthusiastic, praising the visual craftsmanship and emotional weight, though noting it doesn't quite match its predecessor's tightness. That's a high bar to clear: Minus One is widely regarded as one of the great blockbusters of the decade.

Whether the Academy goes beyond the craft categories remains to be seen, but the conversation alone is a victory. A $15-million underdog became an Oscar winner; its bigger, brasher, R-rated sequel premiering to Best Picture chatter at NYFF is exactly the kind of story awards season loves. The King of the Monsters may yet get his crown.

The Road Ahead

The Best Picture chatter is audacious, but it's not baseless — and the history supports taking it seriously. When Godzilla Minus One won the 2024 Oscar for Best Visual Effects on a $15 million budget, it didn't just make history as the first Godzilla film to win an Academy Award; it made Yamazaki the first feature director honored in the VFX category since Stanley Kubrick, placing him in company that reframes the entire conversation. A $116 million worldwide gross made it the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla film ever, and the public admiration of Steven Spielberg and James Cameron gave it the kind of industry blessing that awards campaigns are built on. Now the sequel arrives with bigger swings: a 1949 setting two years after the original, the continuing story of the Shikishima family, a new and larger monster rampaging through New York City, the franchise's first R rating — defended by Yamazaki as necessary to render the action honestly — and the distinction of being the first Japanese feature shot specifically for IMAX screens. Critics at NYFF were largely enthusiastic about the visual craftsmanship and emotional weight, even while noting the film doesn't quite match its predecessor's tightness. That's the honest assessment of a sequel measured against a modern classic. But awards season loves a narrative, and "the $15-million underdog that conquered the Oscars returns bigger and bolder" is a narrative with real momentum. Yamazaki holds "a little bit of hope." After the last film, hope looks like a strategy.