Why New Godzilla Movie Is Kaiju Franchise's First Rated-R Explained By Director
Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025.
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Director Takashi Yamazaki reveals why Godzilla Minus Zero is rated R.
Days before premiering at the New York Film Festival, the news broke that the sequel would be rated R for "some violent content/bloody images." This makes it the first Godzilla movie to receive this rating in the kaiju franchise's 72-year history, as all other installments have been classified as G, PG, or PG-13 since the MPA rating system was established in 1968.
King of the Monsters · 70 Years of Destruction
Godzilla
Trivia Challenge
☢Toho
ClassicThe original king
🏯Showa
EraMonster island mayhem
🔥Heisei
EraDarker and deadlier
⚡MillenniumA new beginning
🌊MonsterVerseLet them fight
01
The original 1954 Godzilla film was directed by a visionary Japanese filmmaker and served as an allegory for the horrors of nuclear weapons. Who directed the original Godzilla?
✓ Correct! Ishiro Honda directed the original 1954 Gojira. The film was a direct response to the Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident and nuclear testing in the Pacific. Akira Kurosawa was Honda’s close friend but directed samurai films, and Takashi Shimura was actually an actor in the film.
✗ Destroyed! The answer is Ishiro Honda. Kurosawa directed Seven Samurai, Miyazaki is the anime legend behind Studio Ghibli, and Shimura was an actor who appeared in the original film. Honda’s vision turned nuclear fear into cinema’s greatest monster.
02
In the Showa era films, Godzilla frequently battles a three-headed golden dragon from outer space who becomes his most iconic rival. What is this monster’s name?
✓ Correct! King Ghidorah, the three-headed golden dragon, first appeared in 1964’s “Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.” He’s Godzilla’s ultimate arch-nemesis, appearing in more films than any other Godzilla villain.
✗ Destroyed! Mechagodzilla is a robotic duplicate, Mothra is generally an ally, and Rodan is a giant pteranodon who sometimes fights alongside Godzilla. King Ghidorah is the iconic golden three-headed dragon.
03
Godzilla’s signature attack is a powerful beam of concentrated radiation that he fires from his mouth. What is this iconic weapon commonly called?
✓ Correct! The Atomic Breath (or “heat ray” in Japanese) is Godzilla’s signature weapon, powered by the nuclear energy in his body. The blue beam has been a defining visual element since the original 1954 film.
✗ Destroyed! The answer is Atomic Breath. While “Nuclear Pulse” is a separate Godzilla ability (a shockwave from his body), his signature mouth beam is universally known as the Atomic Breath.
04
In the 1995 film “Godzilla vs. Destoroyah,” Godzilla’s nuclear heart goes into meltdown, turning him a glowing red-orange. This version of Godzilla has what popular fan nickname?
✓ Correct! Burning Godzilla first appeared in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995), glowing red-orange as his nuclear reactor heart goes critical. This form returned in the MonsterVerse in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).
✗ Destroyed! Shin Godzilla is the 2016 Japanese reboot, Mechagodzilla is the robotic version, and “Final Godzilla” isn’t a recognized form. Burning Godzilla specifically refers to the meltdown state.
05
One of Godzilla’s most beloved allies is a giant divine moth who is often accompanied by tiny twin fairies called the Shobijin. Who is this kaiju?
✓ Correct! Mothra, the Queen of the Monsters, first appeared in her own 1961 film before becoming one of Godzilla’s most reliable allies. The Shobijin (tiny twin fairies) serve as her priestesses and communicate her intentions to humanity.
✗ Destroyed! Rodan is a pteranodon, Anguirus is Godzilla’s first opponent (and later ally), and Battra is Mothra’s dark counterpart. Mothra is the divine moth accompanied by the twin Shobijin fairies.
06
Shin Godzilla (2016), directed by Hideaki Anno, was a critical and commercial hit in Japan. The film reimagined Godzilla as a metaphor for which real-life disaster?
✓ Correct! Shin Godzilla was explicitly created as an allegory for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and the Japanese government’s response. Director Hideaki Anno (of Evangelion fame) used Godzilla to critique bureaucratic paralysis during crisis.
✗ Destroyed! The answer is the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. While the original 1954 film was a nuclear weapons allegory, Shin Godzilla specifically parallels the Fukushima crisis and the government’s slow response.
07
In the Legendary MonsterVerse films, the ancient organization that monitors and studies giant monsters is named after a real-life secret project. What is this organization called?
✓ Correct! Monarch is the secret scientific organization dedicated to studying Titans (massive ancient creatures). Named to evoke secrecy and authority, Monarch has appeared in every MonsterVerse film since Godzilla (2014).
✗ Destroyed! SHIELD is Marvel’s organization, Apex is the villainous corporation from Godzilla vs. Kong, and MUTO stands for “Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism” — a monster species, not an organization. Monarch is the answer.
08
In Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), Godzilla and Kong team up against a new threat from Hollow Earth. What is the name of the tyrannical ape villain they face?
✓ Correct! Skar King is a tyrannical great ape from Hollow Earth who enslaves other apes and wields a weapon made from a Titan’s spine. He also controls Shimo, an ancient ice-breathing Titan. His threat is so great that Godzilla and Kong must team up to stop him.
✗ Destroyed! Mechagodzilla was the villain of Godzilla vs. Kong, Camazotz appeared in the graphic novels, and Tiamat is a sea serpent Titan. Skar King is the new ape tyrant from Hollow Earth.
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King of the Monsters — or trampled underfoot?
While speaking with Variety at the New York Film Festival, Yamazaki explained that the R-rating was "essential" for certain scenes in Godzilla Minus Zero, and that censoring or cutting these scenes would have been a major disservice to the film. Despite the sometimes negative connotation of R-rated films, the director is encouraged by the shift in how they are perceived, and how movies with this rating have performed exceptionally well at the box office. Check out his comments below:
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.
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.
First reactions and reviews for Godzilla Minus Zero have been overwhelmingly positive, and several of them have noted how important the R-rating is to the film. Discussing Film's Andrew Salazar wrote that "it’s the kind of blockbuster that would never be allowed to exist in the West. The amount of times my jaw hit the floor. Definitely makes sense how it got that R rating." Film and TV editor Greg Pomes shared that "this movie absolutely earns its R rating... there is a brutality to the destruction here that makes everything hit harder."
Beyond earning the R-rating and delivering a new level of brutality to the franchise, the early reception indicates that the rating is part of what makes the movie an unparalleled sequel. JoBlo declared that "this is the Godfather Part 2 to Godzilla Minus One's Godfather," while film critic Anthony Orlando emphasized that it "joins Terminator 2 and The Dark Knight as one of the greatest sequels ever made."
Godzilla Minus One's reviews were excellent in their own right, as proven by the near-perfect 99% critics' score and 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2023 movie was praised for its balance between the human stories and the kaiju's destructive spectacle, all of which was achieved through a PG-13 rating. The first reactions and reviews hail the sequel for achieving this balance again, but on an even larger and more intense scale, hence the R-rating.
As for Godzilla Minus Zero's financial prospects, 2026's highest-grossing movies prove that an R-rating does not have to get in the way of this success and can even help it. The year's second-best performer at the box office, The Odyssey, is rated R, and has earned $1.727 billion worldwide. It also surpassed 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. Two of the year's other major hits are the R-rated horror films Obsession and Backrooms, which respectively made $519.4 million and $400 million globally, and far exceeded their small production budgets.
The story of Godzilla Minus Zero takes place in post-World War II Japan in 1949, two years after the tragic events of Godzilla Minus One. The Shikishima family remains at the heart of the narrative, with a cast that features Ryunosuke Kamiki as Kōichi Shikishima, Minami Hamabe as Noriko Shikishima, Yuki Yamada as Shirō Mizushima, Kuranosuke Sasaki as Seiji Akitsu, Jun Kunimura as Dr. Ogata, Miou Tanaka as Tatsuo Hotta, Sakura Ando as Sumiko Ōta, Masami Nagasawa as Makoto Aoyama, Min Tanaka as Kanji Murakami, Hidetaka Yoshioka as Kenji Noda, and Sae Nagatani as Akiko.
Godzilla Minus Zero releases in U.S. theaters on November 6.
- Release Date
- November 6, 2026
- Runtime
- 135 minutes
- Director
- Takashi Yamazaki
-
Ryunosuke Kamiki
Koichi Shikishima
-
Minami Hamabe
Noriko Oishi
-
Min Tanaka
Kanji Murakami
-
Hidetaka Yoshioka
Kenji Noda
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