Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures Takashi Yamazaki’s $15 million monster movie is quietly climbing digital charts again three years after its original release. Audiences are rushing to rent and stream the Oscar-winning film ahead of its highly anticipated upcoming sequel.
Godzilla Minus One is back on digital charts ahead of sequel
Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One has surged back on digital charts. The 2023 kaiju film currently sits at No. 4 on the iTunes Top Movies chart, according to PopVortex. Audiences are renting and purchasing the film to catch up ahead of its upcoming sequel, Godzilla Minus Zero.
Toho announced the sequel on November 3, 2025, with Yamazaki returning to write, direct, and handle visual effects. The studio has targeted a 2026 release window for the follow-up. Yamazaki confirmed at the 23rd Visual Effects Society Awards that storyboarding and scripting are already in progress.
The original film carried a reported budget of $15 million. It went on to gross $116 million worldwide, dethroning Shin Godzilla as the highest-grossing Japanese Godzilla film ever. The movie also became the highest-grossing Japanese-language film in U.S. box office history.
Godzilla Minus One won Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards. It became the first non-English language film to win in that category. The achievement was especially notable given the small visual effects team of just 35 artists at Shirogumi’s Chofu studio. Steven Spielberg praised the film and told Yamazaki he watched it multiple times across different formats.
The film stars Ryunosuke Kamiki as a former kamikaze pilot in postwar Japan. It earned a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 213 critics’ reviews. American audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore grade during its theatrical run. The film also won eight awards at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize, including Best Picture. Its digital resurgence now reflects sustained audience interest as anticipation builds for Godzilla Minus Zero.