Director Explains “Godzilla Minus Zero” R Rating

Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” held its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on Friday night to rave reviews.

While it didn’t quite hit the perfect 99% (8.5/10) score of its predecessor “Godzilla Minus One” on Rotten Tomatoes, its current 95% (8.3/10) score still has it as easily one of the best films of the year and that score could still change as more reviews come in.

One of the big talking points is that this is the first R-rated “Godzilla” film in 70 years, along with being the first Japanese feature ever shot for IMAX screens.

The rating is said to be for “violent content/bloody images” and director Takashi Yamazaki tells Variety that securing that rating was important:

“Logically, as a studio – and even as a director – you want as many people from the general public to be able to see your film. So, an R-rating might seem like a barrier to entry, and conversations about, ‘Hey, could we have not gotten this down to PG-13?’ of course are going to happen.

In spite of that, though, there were certain scenes that, for me as a director, were so essential to the film. Censoring it or cutting it was just not an option for me.”

Thanks to the blockbuster successes of R-rated films like “Deadpool,” “Joker” and “The Odyssey,” the stigma about saddling a film with such a rating has mostly evaporated:

“I think the R-rating, at one point, carried almost a negative connotation. In more modern films, it actually creates a sort of expectation and excitement of, ‘Okay, well, they’re not censoring anything. The director and the cast’s voice is there, as is.’

So it is very encouraging to see other films who have preceded us that have already found a lot of success with the R-rating at the box office. Hopefully, we can continue that trend with ‘Godzilla Minus Zero.'”

Yamazaki scored major applause from the audience both before and after the screening. The film itself is slated to open theatrically in Japan by Toho on November 3rd and in North America and other global markets on November 6th.

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