Yahoo News ‘Godzilla Minus One’ Makes Franchise History With First Oscars Win
The King of Monsters finally has his share of Oscars glory.
In an ironic triumph of small over large, Japanese monster movie sensation Godzilla Minus One — which was made for only about $15 million — beat out four big-budget Hollywood tentpoles to win the best visual effects category. It’s the first time in decades that a non-U.S. studio film has won the category. Despite its deep influence on the history of visual effects in cinema, this year was the first time in the Godzilla franchise’s seven-decade history that it was nominated for an Oscar.
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Godzilla Minus One was written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, who also headed up the film’s VFX team, which included Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima. The team is now Japan’s first-ever winner of the best visual effects Oscar. In another rarity, a director winning the category has only occurred once before — Stanley Kubrick’s win in 1969 for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Yamazaki and his collaborators triumphed over the VFX teams from Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Napoleon, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and The Creator.
Accepting his Oscar, Yamazaki said he was inspired to become a filmmaker by the “shock” of seeing Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind as a kid in Japan some 40 years ago.
“So far from Hollywood, even the possibility of standing on this stage seemed out of reach,” Yamazaki said, fighting back emotion. “The moment we were nominated, we felt like Rocky Balboa welcomed into the ring as equals by our biggest rivals, which was already a miracle. But, here we stand!”
Godzilla Minus One has been a critical and commercial sensation, earning $56.4 million in the U.S. and Canada to become the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time. Only two international live-action movies — fellow Oscar winners Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Life Is Beautiful — earned more in North America.
Later, backstage at the Oscars ceremony, Yamazaki spoke of the impact he hopes his film’s success will have back home in Japan.
“I think Godzilla has opened up so many doors for us through this project. I don’t know where those doors are going to lead, but I don’t want to turn down any opportunity,” he said, later adding: “I do believe that perhaps the success of Godzilla Minus One will open up new opportunity for a lot of Japanese filmmakers. I think that’s important because Japan is such a small country that we need international box office and revenue to sustain the industry. This should be the start of something bigger, I hope, for the industry as a whole.”
The 37th film in the Godzilla franchise tells the story of Godzilla’s first emergence in a ravaged postwar Japan. Backed by Toho studios, the film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando and Kuranosuke Sasaki.
The VFX team brought some Kaiju color to the Oscars red carpet Sunday night, entering the theater in shoes adorned with Godzilla sculptures gripping the heels, and holding figurines of the iconic monster. Yamazaki and his Godzilla figurine also wore matching bow ties.
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