Now that Godzilla Minus One is the first Godzilla film to have an Academy Award, it sure would be nice to watch it, right? Well, you can’t. At least right now. And for that you can blame Godzilla. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, to be more specific.
After a very, very successful theatrical run over the past few months, you may have noticed that Toho’s latest Godzilla movie is no longer playing in theaters. In fact, it hasn’t been playing in theaters for over a month now. Which is wild considering films like Best Picture winner Oppenehimer, which was released in July and is already streaming, is back in theaters.
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This reason for this, according to IndieWire, is contractual. Apparently, somewhere in the deal between Godzilla’s creator and rights holder, Toho, and MonsterVerse creators Legendary Entertainment, there’s a clause that says the companies won’t release Godzilla movies in the same calendar year, presumably to not oversaturate the market. Godzilla Minus One opened in the U.S. December 1, 2023 and now Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire opens March 29. Godzilla Minus One did extended its run into the new year but theaters were told it had to be off screens February 1. At that time, Minus One was #7 at the box office so it was still making money. Plenty of films lower on the list are still in theaters.
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And while that may sound like a deal that, especially in this case, benefits Legendary more than Toho, Indiewire also reports that Toho is a partner on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. So it’ll make money either way.
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What’s still unclear though is how, if at all, this explains why Godzilla Minus One hasn’t hit any streaming service yet. Physical 4K/Blu-ray releases have begun in international markets so hopefully the U.S. gets one soon, but so far it has zero streaming presence. Basically, if you want to see Godzilla Minus One and its Oscar-winning visual effects, you’ll just have to wait. And you’ll probably see the big guy team up with King Kong first anyway.
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