‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ after world premiere at NYFF: Yamazaki explains the ‘Minus Zero’ title, denies the Noriko theory and leaves the door open for a third film

On Saturday evening, immediately after the world premiere of “Godzilla Minus Zero” at Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, as part of the New York Film Festival, director Takashi Yamazaki appeared at the press conference and revealed new details about the direct sequel to “Godzilla Minus One” (2023) — the film that won the Oscar for best visual effects in 2024, as USA Today reports.

From the very first day of “Minus One”, Yamazaki said, he had started thinking about the sequel, and his mission was clear: to surprise the audience by doing the opposite of the theories circulating online. One of them claimed that Noriko, the character played by Minami Hamabe, would return as a kaiju — but the director flatly denied it: “This is the only thing we will NOT do!” Hamabe herself expressed relief, recounting that she had written to Yamazaki with concern: “Will I return as a kaiju? Because then I need to think carefully about the role”.

Yamazaki also explained the meaning of the title: “Minus Zero” comes from the concept of negative zero in mathematics — “this family approaches zero, is returning to neutrality in many aspects”, he said, referring to the story set two years after Koichi Shikishima’s (Ryunosuke Kamiki) victory, with the return of Noriko and adopted daughter Akiko (Sae Nagatani), while Godzilla is still alive.

Although the trailer proclaims “everything ends here”, the director left the door open for a third film, joking: “We’ve gone ‘Minus One’ and ‘Minus Zero’ — where do we go after this?” “Minus Zero”, the first R-rated film in the 70-year history of the 39-film franchise, hits cinemas on November 6.