Toho's latest Godzilla movie, the critically-acclaimed Minus One, proved to be a bigger hit in the U.S. than anyone predicted, and recently passed the $50 million mark in North America for a worldwide total of just shy of $100 million (it should pass the milestone this weekend).
To celebrate the movie's success, Toho will re-release Minus One in black-and-white for a one-week run beginning on Friday, January 26. Titled Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color, this version of the film is meant to evoke the spirit and mood of Toho's original 1954 classic, Gojira.
“We are now able to announce Godzilla-1.0/C, which we have been working on for a long time," director Takashi Yamazaki said in a statement. "Rather than just making it monochrome, it is a cut by cut. I had them make adjustments while making full use of various mattes, as if they were creating a new movie. What I was aiming for was a style that looked like it was taken by masters of monochrome photography. We were able to unearth the texture of the skin and the details of the scenery that were hidden in the photographed data. Then, a frightening Godzilla, just like the one in the documentary, appeared. By eliminating color, a new sense of reality emerges. Please live and resist further fear at the theater.”
Check out a new monochrome trailer and poster below.
Yamazaki previously outlined his original pitch for the project, while explaining that unusual title.
"Postwar Japan has lost everything. The film depicts an existence that gives unprecedented despair. The title Godzilla Minus One was created with this in mind. In order to depict this, the staff and I have worked together to create a setting where Godzilla looks as if "fear" itself is walking toward us, and where despair is piled on top of despair. I think this is the culmination of all the films I have made to date, and one that deserves to be "experienced" rather than "watched" in the theater. I hope you will experience the most terrifying Godzilla in the best possible environment."
The Movie stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, and Kuranosuke Sasaki, with music by Naoki Sato.
Godzilla Minus One is rated PG-13 for “creature violence and action.”
Have you seen the movie on the big screen? If not, this is your opportunity, because both versions will be leaving theaters by February 1.