Toho CEO says Godzilla Minus Zero opens in Japan and U.S. next week
Matsuoka Hiro told a Tokyo Film Festival Q&A that GKIDS will release the film across North America from November 6.
Toho CEO Matsuoka Hiro said at the Tokyo Film Festival on the afternoon of October 29, 2026 that Godzilla Minus Zero will open in Japan and the U.S. next week, after premiering at the festival. He appeared in a Q&A alongside Bill Kramer, CEO of AMPAS.
GKIDS will distribute Godzilla Minus Zero across North America beginning November 6, Matsuoka said.
During the same conversation, Matsuoka described how Toho came to release Godzilla Minus One in the U.S. itself, telling the audience the move was a coincidence rather than a strategy. On a U.S. trip as Toho president, he said, exhibitors told him the studios were not making enough films and suggested anime.
Matsuoka said that conversation showed him how popular anime was in the U.S., and that Toho already had Godzilla — which led to the decision to handle U.S. distribution. He added that the proposal raised concern inside Toho at the time.
Before Godzilla Minus One, Toho had repeatedly failed to distribute its films outside Japan, particularly in the U.S. The film opened in the U.S. in December 2023 and earned more than $11.4 million on its opening weekend, becoming the biggest Stateside debut of a foreign film that year and the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film in North America.
Quick answers
When does Godzilla Minus Zero open in the U.S.?
GKIDS will release it across North America beginning November 6, with Japan and U.S. openings next week after its Tokyo Film Festival premiere.
Who distributes Godzilla Minus Zero in North America?
GKIDS is handling North American distribution.