Image via Dodoeggs / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Director Takashi Yamazaki at the film's New York Film Festival premiere in September 2026.
Godzilla is back on the big screen today. Godzilla Minus Zero opens in cinemas across North America on Friday, November 6, 2026, in regular screens and IMAX.
It is the follow-up to Godzilla Minus One, the 2023 hit that won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The new film picks up in 1949, two years after the first film, with Japan still picking up the pieces after the war. And this time, Godzilla is not the only monster in the story.
When and where to watch
The film opened in Japan on Tuesday, November 3, which is Godzilla Day. It comes to North America today, Friday, November 6, through GKIDS. Early IMAX screenings ran on November 3 in select US, UK and Mexico cinemas.
It is the first Japanese film ever shot for IMAX, so IMAX is the way to see it if you have a screen near you. Tickets are on sale now at the usual cinema chains. There is no streaming date yet. For now, the cinema is the only place to watch it.
What is Godzilla Minus Zero about?
Koichi Shikishima is back. Ryunosuke Kamiki returns as the former kamikaze pilot, and Minami Hamabe is back as Noriko. The two of them are trying to build a life together with their adopted daughter Akiko. Then Godzilla returns, and a new threat comes with him.
The trailers keep the second monster hidden. Toho has not named it in public. But reports from people who have seen the film say King Ghidorah, the three-headed golden monster, shows up. If that holds, it is the first time Ghidorah has faced this version of Godzilla.
The film runs 2 hours and 15 minutes and is rated R. It is in Japanese with English subtitles.
Who is in the cast?
Takashi Yamazaki is back as writer, director and visual effects supervisor, just as he was on Minus One. Most of the first film's cast returns with him.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Ryunosuke Kamiki | Koichi Shikishima |
| Minami Hamabe | Noriko Shikishima |
| Hidetaka Yoshioka | Kenji Noda |
| Yuki Yamada | Shiro Mizushima |
| Kuranosuke Sasaki | Seiji Akitsu |
| Sakura Ando | Sumiko Ota |
| Masami Nagasawa | Makoto Aoyama (new) |
| Jun Kunimura | Dr. Ogata (new) |
| Min Tanaka | Professor Murakami (new) |
What are the reviews saying?
Early reviews are strong. The film holds 96% on Rotten Tomatoes from 46 reviews, and a 78 on Metacritic. Critics have praised the scale of it, and the way it keeps the human story at the centre.
It is off to a fast start in Japan too. Reports say it took 910 million yen, about $5.7 million, on its first day there. That would make it the biggest opening day ever for a live-action film in Japan.
Minus One set a high bar. It was made on a small budget by Hollywood standards, and it still won the visual effects Oscar. Minus Zero has a bigger canvas, and it was shot with IMAX cameras from the start. The opening weekend will tell us if US audiences turn up the same way they did last time.
November is a busy month at the movies, and the final trailer for Dune: Part Three has already set up one of the season's other big releases. Marvel is building to its own event too, with Avengers: Doomsday on the way. But today belongs to Godzilla.
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