Godzilla Minus One Is Getting A Black And White Screening In Japan

Godzilla Minus One bw key visual

Godzilla has been a mainstay of Japanese entertainment for decades now, with its earliest film debuting in Japan all the way back in 1954. That film was in black and white, and while the series moved to color productions with 1962’s King Kong vs. Godzilla, there’s a lot of nostalgia among films of the franchise for the first two black and white films.

That’s why Godzilla Minus One, the latest film in the series, is getting a special screening in Japan, with the entire film displayed in black and white. The screenings will start in Japanese theaters next month, on January 12, 2024, but unfortunately screenings outside of Japan have not yet been announced.

It’s not just a black and white filter, though. Director Takashi Yamazaki said the team made adjustments across the board, with the goal of making the image look “as if it had been taken by the masters of black and white photography.”

While the fidelity is much higher than the films of old, it certainly has achieved that classic black and white look, and without the context of the rest of the trailer, any given screenshot does look a lot like it came from 70 years ago.

Godzilla Minus One broke US box office records in its opening weekend, becoming the biggest debut for a Japanese live-action film and the biggest debut for a foreign-language live-action film in over 20 years. It also was also very well received by critics and fans alike, having critic and audience scores of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film was initially reported to have a $15 million budget, but director Yamazaki denied that budget claim earlier this month, saying “I wish it were that much.”

Godzilla Minus One is still playing in some theaters in the US and across the world, and is expected to come to digital storefronts and streaming services sometime in 2024.

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