Why You Can't Watch Oscar-Winner Godzilla Minus One Right Now

Godzilla Minus One became one of the  biggest box-office surprises of the year, and even walked away with an Oscar  for Best Visual Effects. It was one of the biggest cinematic underdogs of the 21st  century… and now you can't watch it anywhere. Other than the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon,  the rip-roaring success of the kaiju flick quickly turned into the Cinderella story of  last year. Originally planned by Japanese studio Toho to have a modest theatrical run in  North America from December 1st t

o December 7th, a veritable tsunami of positive  word-of-mouth reactions all but forced them to keep Godzilla Minus One  in theaters until February of 2024. Along the way, the record-breaking ticket  sales led to the film cracking the $100 million benchmark worldwide, surpassing  the well-received Shin Godzilla as Japan's highest-grossing Godzilla movie ever. The  film even earned a buzzy re-release in the form of a black-and-white cut, and it feels as  if this particular giant lizard hasn't enj

oyed such a high level of acclaim and success  since its original movie came out in 1954. However, that acclaim only highlights  the fact that, as of March 2023, the movie is no longer in theaters,  has yet to receive a PVOD release date, and isn't available to purchase or even preorder  on physical media outside of Japan. So what gives? Most casual audiences only know Godzilla through  Hollywood's various attempts to bring him to life on the big screen, but Japan has continued to  produce plent

y of their own interpretations of Gojira through Toho. In regards to the  studio, a recent report has shed some light on the nature of their rights-sharing  agreement with Legendary Entertainment, which currently licenses the franchise  rights along with Warner Bros. in the west. Apparently, there's a good reason why  Godzilla Minus One has already seemed to disappear after its theatrical window closed, and it has to do with the impending  release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. According to

IndieWire, the agreement between  Toho and Legendary allegedly stipulates that neither studio can release a Godzilla  movie within the same calendar year as the other. This explains why Godzilla Minus One  received a domestic release in November 2023, followed by an international  release the following month. Many box-office analysts raised an eyebrow over  Toho's decision to pull Minus One from theaters by February 1, due to the fact that it would  undoubtedly cost them more profits. However,

this likely had to do with avoiding  a conflict with Godzilla x Kong, which is scheduled to arrive March 29, 2024. "They can feel it, too. Something is coming." Oscar-nominated movies almost always enjoy a  significant post-Academy Awards bump both at the box office and at home, as many of  this year's entries have shown. Sadly, Godzilla Minus One is conspicuously  missing from that party this time around. There have been no announcements for  a release on digital PVOD as of yet, and Toho just r

ecently announced a Blu-ray release  exclusive to Japan. Everyone else hoping to catch the Oscar-winning movie in theaters or by  streaming at home is currently out of luck. There's a certain irony in Legendary  and Warner Bros.' so-called MonsterVerse movies starring Godzilla and Kong essentially  cannibalizing the rollout of Toho's much darker, more serious, and ultimately more  well-received adaptation. Godzilla Minus One director and VFX wizard Takashi  Yamazaki at least had his moment to sh

ine during his acceptance speech upon  winning the Visual Effects Oscar. Still, not even an accomplishment  of this magnitude could defeat the relentless might of Godzilla x Kong bearing  down on the industry in just a few weeks. Not all is lost for Toho, however, as  the IndieWire report indicates that the Japanese studio stands to collect its cut of  the profits as a result of partnering up with Legendary and Warner Bros. on the American  blockbuster. Money always talks, in the end, and the po

wers that be stay winning, even if most  audiences will have no choice but to continue waiting on official word for when Godzilla Minus  One will be made available to watch at home. In the meantime, fans can bask in the VFX  team's unprecedented accomplishment forever shrined at the Academy Awards. Even Godzilla  himself would agree that's worth celebrating.