If you saw Godzilla Minus One on the big screen, chances are you’re desperate for a sequel. Takashi Yamazaki’s kaiju epic was a massive box office hit, managing to combine jaw-dropping city-smashing sequences with heartfelt character drama and resonant emotion – not bad for a 70-year-old lizard. And if you saw Minus One, you’ll also know – SPOILER ALERT – that the film had a highly satisfying but bittersweet ending. On the one hand, our hero Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) was reunited with his presumed-dead lover Noriko (Minami Hamabe) after seemingly taking Godzilla down. But beyond that happy resolution looms danger – there seems to still be life in Godzilla’s fleshy remains down in the ocean depths, while Noriko now bears a mysterious dark mark on her neck. Plenty to explore, then, in a part two.
Speaking to Empire, Yamazaki noted that a sequel isn’t officially happening yet, but that he’s “very curious” about Shikishima and Noriko’s future. “I would certainly like to see what the sequel would look like,” he says. “I know that Shikishima’s war seems over, and we’ve reached this state of peace and calm – but perhaps [it’s the] calm before the storm, and the characters have not yet been forgiven for what has been imposed upon them.” That sounds ominous for the next possible part of the story.
If a storm is coming, then, what would that be? Given the lineage of Toho monsters, there’s a chance of other iconic creatures emerging. “I don’t know that anyone has pulled off a more serious tone of kaiju-versus-kaiju with human drama, and that challenge is something that I’d like to explore,” says Yamazaki. But, given Minus One’s clear focus on its human story, keeping the carnage and the character in balance would be essential for the director. “When you have movies that feature [kaiju battles], I think it's very easy to put the spotlight and the camera on this massive spectacle, and it detaches itself from the human drama component,” he says, explaining that he would need “to make sure that the human drama and whatever's happening between [the] kaiju both have meaning, and both are able to affect one another in terms of plot development.” If anyone can figure it out, it’s Yamazaki.
Read Empire’s full Godzilla Minus One report in the Star Wars prequels 25th anniversary issue, on sale Thursday 15 February. Godzilla Minus One is out now.