Godzilla Minus One earned an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects yesterday (January 23), and the team behind the movie's VFX brought out an audience of mini Godzilla models to join in the fun.
Artist Koji Matsunaga shared a video of the team watching the nominations announcement in a board room with around half a dozen kaiju on the table in front of them. When the name of their movie appeared on the screen, the room erupted into cheers, with people setting off streamers and party poppers. "I was in tears. A great achievement for Japanese VFX!" Matsunaga wrote alongside the clip.
涙でた。日本のVFXにとって快挙だね！アップしていいと言われたので。 pic.twitter.com/y5vzzwTGK0January 23, 2024
The movie is the only international title that made the shortlist, going up against a host of Hollywood blockbusters: The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Napoleon. The film's visual effects were carried out by Shirogumi's Chōfu studio.
Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, Godzilla Minus One is set in post-war Japan and follows a former kamikaze pilot plagued by survivor's guilt who ends up fighting against Godzilla with the crew of his mine removal ship. The film was critically acclaimed and a hit at the box office, both in Japan and internationally.
The title, per the film's official synopsis, refers to the state of the country at this time, exacerbated by the arrival of Godzilla: "Japan's economic state has been reduced to zero. Godzilla appears and plunges the country into a negative state."
This year's Oscars will air on March 10. In the meantime, check out our guide to the Oscars 2024 nominations list in full.
