This article was originally published on SFFGazette.com.
Godzilla Minus Zero opens in theaters this weekend, and it's set to head straight to the top of the box office. The first movie was a runaway success, and with filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki's Godzilla Minus One follow-up receiving rave reviews, a similar level of success is bound to follow.
With that in mind, a third movie eventually becoming a reality seems inevitable, but does Godzilla Minus Zero set the stage for one with a post-credits scene?
Those have become the norm for many movies after Marvel Studios and the MCU popularised the concept, and Yamazaki could easily tee up the next major threat to Godzilla after pitting the iconic Kaiju against King Ghidorah in this second chapter. So, should you stick around?
Godzilla Minus Zero does NOT have any mid- or post-credits scenes. When the credits roll, that's the end of the movie, though you could always choose to stick around and see the names of everyone who worked hard to make the sequel a reality.
Now would also be a good time to warn you that, with Godzilla Minus Zero receiving an early international release, social media is being flooded with spoilery clips from the movie. That includes Godzilla's epic battle with King Ghidorah and how it ends.
During a recent interview with TIME, Yamazaki addressed the possibility of a third chapter and admitted that he faces one major problem: what to call it.
"We've gone from Minus One to Minus Zero, so we're now neutral," the filmmaker mused. "That might be the biggest problem we have to solve if there is a sequel."
With 67 verdicts counted, Godzilla Minus Zero sits at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. Godzilla Minus One, released in 2023, has 99% based on 213 reviews from critics, so it seems fair to say that filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki has delivered a worthy follow-up.
Excitement for this follow-up is through the roof, and it's easy to imagine this movie grossing considerably more than its predecessor's impressive $116 million haul. That first chapter cost around $15 million to produce; the sequel reportedly had a similar price tag.
War reduced Japan to zero, and Godzilla plunged it into minus. In Godzilla Minus Zero, two years have passed since then, and the country has faced agonizing struggles to achieve recovery and finally reclaim its daily life. Just as humanity managed to cling to a hard-won peace, a new threat strikes, crushing hope in an instant. There is no third time. Everything ends here.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the movie stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Jun Kunimura, Miou Tanaka, Sakura Ando, Masami Nagasawa, Min Tanaka, and Hidetaka Yoshioka.
Shot entirely in Japan as the first-ever Japanese production filmed for IMAX, Godzilla Minus Zero was shot with high-definition digital cameras certified by IMAX, and optimised in sound and imagery unique to IMAX screens. The globally beloved monster returns to movie theater screens, reaching greater and more terrifying heights, making Godzilla Minus Zero a true cinematic event not to be missed.
Godzilla Minus Zero arrives in theaters on November 6.