The biggest (pleasant) surprise of Oscars Night 2024 was Japan and Toho’s “Godzilla Minus One” winning Best Visual Effects. I predicted “The Creator”, which won some precursor VFX society awards. But that sci-fi action drama from director Gareth Edwards flopped at the box office. Others were thinking maybe “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” would win the Oscar, but The Academy hasn’t fully embraced the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Oppenheimer” won the Critics Choice Award in this category, and “Poor Things” won the BAFTA, but neither of them were nominated for the Oscar.
In the end, it was the love of “Godzilla Minus One” — an excellent film — and the appreciation for what went into making it that allowed it to receive the victory.
Meantime, WB has its own “Godzilla” saga going. As we approach the 10th anniversary of Edwards’ solid 2014 “Godzilla”, now comes director Adam Wingard’s “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire”. It’s the follow-up to 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong” (also directed by Wingard), which earned $100 million in theaters despite simultaneously streaming on HBO Max. It was what fans of Edwards’ “Godzilla”, 2017’s “Kong: Skull Island” (directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts) and 2019’s “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” (the weakest of the bunch, directed by Michael Dougherty) were waiting for — a showdown between these two legendary big screen titans. And for the most part, “GVK” delivered.
Hopefully “The New Empire” is just as exciting and satisfying. And WB hopes it makes more money than the past few installments in this “MonsterVerse”. “Godzilla” grossed $529 million worldwide and “Kong” made $569 million globally. The second “Godzilla” dipped to $387M worldwide and “GVK” managed $470M globally. I think half a billion is the goal… and maybe with inflation and no simultaneous Max access… a run at $600M is not out of reach, as long as “The New Empire” is good.