A black-and-white version of Godzilla Minus One is heading to Japanese theaters on January 12, 2024, and Toho has released a new trailer and poster to spread the word.
The official Godzilla X/Twitter account shared the trailer for the monochrome edition of the film, titled Godzilla-1.0/C (Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color), which will open in Japanese theaters next month. It is currently unclear whether the colour-stripped version of the film will roll out in theaters in other territories at a later date.
【モノクロ映像版上映決定】
— 『ゴジラ-1.0』【大ヒット上映中】 (@godzilla231103) December 19, 2023
白黒＜モノクロ＞の世界で
生きて、抗え。
『ゴジラ-1.0／C』
（ゴジラマイナスワン／マイナスカラー）
全国の劇場で
2024.1.12(金)より。https://t.co/QJMViKicU1
また、同日より入場者特典の配布も決定。#ゴジラマイナスワン#ゴジラ#GodzillaMinusOne#Godzilla pic.twitter.com/syJD5gssHL
"We are now able to announce Godzilla-1.0/C, which we have been working on for a long time," director Takashi Yamazaki said in a statement, per Bloody Disgusting. "Rather than just making it monochrome, it is a cut-by-cut. I had them make adjustments while making full use of various mattes as if they were creating a new movie.
"What I was aiming for was a style that looked like it was taken by masters of monochrome photography," he continued. "We were able to unearth the texture of the skin and the details of the scenery that were hidden in the photographed data. Then, a frightening Godzilla, just like the one in the documentary, appeared. By eliminating colour, a new sense of reality emerges. Please live and resist further fear at the theater."
Godzilla Minus One takes the franchise's titular kaiju back to its post-WWII origin as the monster strikes out on a roaring rampage of destruction and devastation in Japan, plunging the country from "zero to minus." A newly-released poster for the black-and-white version of the film captures the smouldering wreckage.
The romp-and-stomp movie premiered in Japan on November 3 — exactly one year from when Toho first announced the feature — and received a theatrical release in the United States on December 1 that was later extended, with many moviegoers heralding it as one of the best Godzilla entries in years.
IGN's review of Godzilla Minus One awarded the film 8 out of 10 stars, feeling that it's "even bigger than its title character" and more "hopeful" than Shin Godzilla with extra "swell, in the score and on the heart strings; less terror and more pride, even (or perhaps especially) while evoking a vulnerable period in Japan's history."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
