Godzilla is going home. Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus Zero, the sequel to the Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One, is the centrepiece of the 39th Tokyo International Film Festival, giving the film its Japanese debut days before Toho opens it in cinemas on 3 Nov, Japan’s Godzilla Day.
Watch the trailer
The festival runs Monday 26 Oct to Wednesday 4 Nov across Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi and Ginza, according to the festival’s own listing with the Chiyoda city tourism office. It is organized by Unijapan, and its market, TIFFCOM, runs alongside from 28 to 30 Oct.
The three big nights
Three Japanese and Korean titles frame the 10 days.
- Opening: Sukiyaki, Takahisa Zeze’s drama about the three men behind the 1963 song “Ue o Muite Arukō”, which topped the US Billboard chart as “Sukiyaki”. Junichi Okada, Tori Matsuzaka and Taiga Nakano star. Toho releases it in Japan on 25 Dec.
- Centrepiece: Godzilla Minus Zero, written and directed by Yamazaki, who also supervised the visual effects.
- Closing: Colony, from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho, starring Jeon Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan and Ji Chang-wook. It premiered in the Midnight Screenings section at Cannes this year; Gaga releases it in Korea in 2027.
Why Godzilla Minus Zero matters
Godzilla Minus One grossed more than US$116 million worldwide and won the Academy Award for best visual effects, according to GKIDS, its North American distributor. The sequel picks up in 1949, two years later, with the Shikishima family facing a new disaster. Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe return as Koichi and Noriko Shikishima, with Min Tanaka joining as Kanji Murakami, a biologist scarred by the war. GKIDS says it is the first Japanese production shot for IMAX. It is produced by Toho Studios and ROBOT, with visual effects again by Shirogumi, the studio where Yamazaki built Minus One‘s Oscar-winning effects. The 3 Nov release date is no accident: it marks the day the original Godzilla opened in Japan in 1954, the date Toho now celebrates as Godzilla Day. Sakura Ando, Yuki Yamada, Hidetaka Yoshioka and Kuranosuke Sasaki also return from the first film.
The film had its world premiere as the Spotlight Gala of the New York Film Festival on 26 Sept, according to Film at Lincoln Center, so Tokyo’s screening is its first on home soil.
The competition and the gala slate
Fifteen films are in the main competition. Among them are Lisandro Alonso’s Double Freedom, Bahman Ghobadi’s Trees Are Watching, Rubaiyat Hossain’s The Difficult Bride, Milcho Manchevski’s Sister Brother Manhole Cover, Garin Nugroho’s Red Before Dawn, Qiu Jiongjiong’s Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting and two Japanese entries, Akira Yamamoto’s The Intertwining and Yukiko Mishima’s Two Cigarettes, Three Nights.
The Gala Selection leans on the autumn festival circuit: Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth!, Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord, Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s The Beloved, Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma and Michael Showalter’s Verity, alongside new Japanese films from Sabu, Kazuya Shiraishi and Yukiko Sode.
Mizoguchi, restored to the big screen
The festival’s classics strand is a Kenji Mizoguchi retrospective of 13 films, from The Water Magician (1933) and Osaka Elegy (1936) through Ugetsu (1953), Sansho the Bailiff (1954) and his final film, Street of Shame (1956), plus both parts of The 47 Ronin. A second retrospective, of eight films by the Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, sits within the World Focus section, which also includes Ulrike Ottinger’s The Blood Countess with Isabelle Huppert.
Other strands include Animation (12 titles), Asian Future (10), Nippon Cinema Now (nine) and Women’s Empowerment (seven).
Where to watch
- Godzilla Minus Zero, cinemas: Japan from 3 Nov (Toho); US and Canada from 6 Nov (GKIDS, with Cineplex Pictures in Canada). GKIDS says the film opens the same week in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, with individual dates still to be confirmed, so UK, Australian and New Zealand dates are pending.
- Godzilla Minus One, streaming: Netflix carried it in North America from June 2024, according to Toho’s Godzilla.com, but Netflix’s title page now shows it as unavailable in the US; availability varies by market, so check Netflix where you live before planning a rewatch.
- Tokyo International Film Festival: 26 Oct to 4 Nov, Hibiya, Yurakucho, Marunouchi and Ginza; tickets through the festival’s official site.
Sources
- Chiyoda City tourism (Visit Chiyoda): 39th Tokyo International Film Festival event listing
- Tokyo International Film Festival: official 2026 site
- GKIDS: Toho and GKIDS reveal new poster and teaser for Godzilla Minus Zero, 9 July 2026
- GKIDS: Toho and GKIDS unleash Godzilla Minus Zero in North America on 6 Nov 2026
- Film at Lincoln Center: Godzilla Minus Zero world premiere is NYFF Spotlight Gala
- Godzilla.com (Toho): Godzilla Minus One streaming on Netflix
- Netflix: Godzilla Minus One title page
- Toho: Godzilla Minus Zero official teaser
Titles in this story.
Explore The Rerun
Before you go
