Godzilla Minus One is already making waves in the awards season race. Its first stop is the 48th Annual Hochi Film Awards--one of Japan's most prestigious film award celebrations. The Hochi Film Awards is usually an excellent indicator of what movies will be present during next year's film awards, such as the Japanese Academy Awards.
Of the many films being considered, Godzilla Minus One has racked up four nominations for top categories. One of which it shares with an adjacent tokusatsu picture, Hideaki Anno's Shin Kamen Rider (2023). Take a look:
Best Picture Nomination - Godzilla Minus One
Best Director Nomination - Takashi Yamazaki
Best Actor in a Leading Role - Ryunosuke Kamiki
Best Supporting Actress - Minami Hamambe (for both Godzilla Minus One and Shin Kamen Rider)
Winners will be announced late November.
Set in a post-war Japan, Godzilla Minus One will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force. Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country from nothing (zero) into the ‘minus.’
Godzilla Minus One is directed by Takashi Yamazaki. An award winning filmmaker and avid Godzilla fan, his work on Always: Sunset on Third Street (2005) earned him two Japanese Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Screenwriter. He was honored with another Best Director and Best Screenplay nomination for the sequel, Always: Sunset on Third Street 2 (2007). In 2016, he won the Best Director category again for The Eternal Zero. Yamazaki also helmed highly acclaimed actioners, Returner, Space Battleship Yamato and many others.
He gave Godzilla a cameo during an opening dream sequence in Always: Sunset on Third Street 2. In 2021 he returned to Godzilla and directed footage for Seibuen Amusement Park's Godzilla the Ride: Giant Monster Battle Summit.
Godzilla Minus One is now playing in Japan. It opens in the United States on December 1st, 2023.
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Source(s):
Hochi Official Website
SciFi Japan
Godzilla Minus One Nominated for Four Categories at Hochi Film Awards
