It remains to be seen whether or not last year’s breakout hit Godzilla Minus One ends up getting a sequel. Frankly, it would seem silly not to, as the film was not only a commercial smash, but became the only entry in the history of the 70-year-old franchise to win an Oscar. It’s probably only a matter of time. As for what that sequel might look like? Director Takashi Yamazaki recently expressed interest in remaking one of the weirdest Godzilla movies around.
Yamazaki recently appeared at New York Comic Con for a panel to help celebrate Godzilla’s 70th birthday, which is here in just a couple of weeks. During the panel, he was asked which previous Godzilla movie he would remake, provided the chance. His answer? Per Kaiju United, it is 1971’s Showa Era classic Godzilla vs. Hedorah. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“Godzilla vs. Hedorah. I think that for its time, Hedorah was a very cutting-edge kaiju, and thinking about the type of visual expression we can do with technology and how far it’s come today – I’m imagining how it would move, and I think that would be a really cool remake.”
Directed by Yoshimitsu Banno, this is a film that sees the King of the Monsters duking it out with a monster made up essentially of pollution. The film itself is exceptionally weird, featuring animated sequences, hippie dance numbers and, rather famously, a scene with Godzilla flying. But Hedoria, aka The Smog Monster, has also become a true fan favorite over the years, with the film itself being embraced as ahead of its time.
Yamazaki is undoubtedly right that Hedorah could look pretty incredible with modern effects. What he and his team were able to accomplish with a limited budget in Minus One was insanely impressive. Not to mention that global warming fears would make Hedorah a pretty spot-on monster for the moment. It’s certainly an interesting idea.
In the meantime, Godzilla Minus One is headed back to theaters next month in honor of the franchise’s 70th anniversary. The movie also finally has 4K, Blu-ray and DVD copies available in the U.S. So it’s readily available to watch with ease but for those who haven’t seen it on the big screen, it’s well worth the time. For now, we wait to see what Toho has in mind and merely hope that Yamazaki gets to put his stamp on the franchise once again.
Godzilla Minus One is currently streaming on Netflix. For more, check out our interview with Takashi Yamazaki to promote Minus One last year.