Godzilla finally made it to the Oscars this year – and slayed.
The movie Godzilla Minus One, set in the waning days of World War II, won the Oscar for best visual effects, pushing aside such big-budget behemoths as Guardians Of The Galaxy 3, Napoleon and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Godzilla Minus One, from writer-director Takashi Yamazaki, marked the first time the prehistoric reptilian monster was nominated for an Oscar in the franchise’s 70-year history. It is the 37th film in the film series, which usually uses Godzilla as a sober symbol of nuclear holocaust and atomic trauma.
Godzilla Minus One became the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film ever in the US and Canada. Only two international live-action movies – Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Life Is Beautiful – collected more than the US$56.4 million grossed by Godzilla Minus One.