Godzilla Minus Zero Gets First Reactions Ahead of Japan and North America Openings
Early reactions to Godzilla Minus Zero are in, and the first scores are strong. The Hollywood Reporter published a roundup of reactions from press screenings on October 30, reporting a 92 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from 50 reviews and a 78 on Metacritic.
The film is the follow-up to Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 hit from Toho, the Japanese studio behind the monster. Takashi Yamazaki wrote and directed both films. The first one earned more than $100 million at the global box office on a budget of $15 million, according to the same outlet's reporting, and it went on to win the Oscar for best visual effects in 2024.
Much of the cast is back. Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Hidetaka Yoshioka and Kuranosuke Sasaki return, and Min Tanaka and Masami Nagasawa join as newcomers. The whole film was shot in Japan. It is also the first Japanese production filmed for IMAX, the large-format system known for its tall, wide screens.
The movie has been on its way for some time. Toho revealed the title in November 2025. Yamazaki showed footage at CinemaCon, the cinema owners' trade convention in Las Vegas, in April. The film then had its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on September 26.
The next stops are dated. Godzilla Minus Zero plays as a Centerpiece gala at the Tokyo International Film Festival on November 1. It opens in Japanese theatres on November 3, and Toho says it will be released worldwide in November. North American cinemas get it on November 6, in both premium and standard formats. Tickets for the wide release are already on sale.
November 3 also marks Godzilla Day, the anniversary of the character's first appearance in 1954, which makes 2026 the 72nd year. Toho's fan site, godzilla.com, is promoting the day with new collectibles, collaborations and giveaways. Cavity Colors, a vinyl record and merchandise label, will release a collection inspired by the film on Tuesday, November 3, at 5 PM ET.
Toho treats the monster as one of its core properties. The company lists Godzilla among its flagship proprietary intellectual properties, meaning characters it owns outright rather than licenses, in its investor materials. That helps explain why the studio is pushing one date across Japan and the rest of the world within the same week, and why the film is arriving in IMAX as well as standard cinemas.
What comes next is simple to track. Japan gets the film first, and English-speaking audiences follow three days later. Anyone with a ticket for November 6 can watch the reactions turn into box office numbers over the opening weekend.
