I was the first to report that Takashi Yamazaki would return for a sequel to “Godzilla Minus One,” and for good reason that’s been celebrated by kaiju fans worldwide.
For almost a year we’ve been hearing rumors about Takashi having had meetings with Marvel and Lucasfilm, so the news this latest development that he’s decided to tackle the next ‘Godzilla’ movie was met with firm approval.
During a recent interview, Takashi confirmed some of those rumors, saying that he did meet with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it doesn't sound like that ended with the director agreeing to hop onboard the MCU.
The president of Marvel told me, 'Wadatsumi!' (laughs). 'Wadatsumi, good. "He told me, 'We're all having meetings every day to see if we can make it happen like that.' I think it's just lip service.
The Japanese filmmaker also revealed that he’d received a "great offer" from a Hollywood studio but turned it down in order to film the new Godzilla instalment, for which he still can’t reveal any details. Was this “great offer” from Feige?
Can you just imagine this guy getting sucked up by the Marvel machine? For now, he’s resisting the offers, but who knows what the future will bring, and it’ll all depend on how his ‘Minus One’ sequel does, both critically and commercially.
As far as Takashi’s next ‘Godzilla’ film is concerned, it's unclear whether it will be a sequel to ‘Minus One’ or a new story. Regardless, the acclaimed ‘Minus One,’ released in 2023, was this incredible commercial success — over $55M domestically and a worldwide total of $115M. The film was made on a paltry $15M budget with a combination of practical effects and CGI.
Cory Finley, a talented filmmaker, has directed three films so far: "Thoroughbreds" (2017), "Bad Education” (2020), and "Landscape with Invisible Hand.”