Why is Oscar-winning Godzilla Minus One not available for streaming? Reasons explored

Godzilla Minus One bagged the award for Best Visual Effects 2024 at the Academy Awards. The $15 million non-US studio movie beat four other Hollywood biggies to acquire the win in the category. Yet fans can't find the first Oscar-winning Godzilla movie on streaming platforms.

The movie is currently not available for streaming due to a reported contract between the Japanese studio, Toho, and Legendary Entertainment, which holds the license for Godzilla films. Toho is said to create its own "Godzilla" movies but is reportedly forbidden to distribute them in the same year as the others.

Written and directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise, was released in Japan last November and in North America a month later. It generated $56.4 million in the United States and Canada making it the highest-grossing Japanese film ever. The story follows the monster's initial appearance amid a devastated postwar Japan.

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The Oscar-nominated Godzilla Minus One is not available for streaming

Godzilla Minus One emerged victorious for Best Visual Effects at the recent Academy Awards, solidifying its place as a standout underdog similar to Ex Machina nearly ten years ago. However, even with its popularity at the most prestigious event of the year, fans currently have no means to access it.

Why it is not available for streaming is the big question. Though not confirmed by Toho, the production studio had reportedly entered into a contract with Legendary Entertainment known for its last venture with Warner Bros, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. Toho is allowed to have its own Godzilla movie but not release it in the same year as Legendary Production.

The movie was released in Japan a month after it premiered on the Toho Building in October, last year. In November, Toho released it in North America and by February 1, 2024, the movie was taken down of all the theatres.

As of right now, there have been no declarations regarding a digital PVOD release, as per GeekyTyrant. The website stated that Toho revealed (through a home video teaser) that the Blu-ray will only be available in Japan from May 1.

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What makes Godzilla Minus One worth watching?

The film is set in the immediate aftermath of World War II, as Japan is still in shock at the destruction done to it. With the remaining few people in post-war Japan still recuperating from the consequences of the A-bomb, director Takashi Yamazaki pits his destroyer of worlds against them to see if they can save themselves.

Ryunosuke Kamiki plays the protagonist Shikishima, who is meant to fly a kamikaze mission but, driven by terror and a natural desire to survive, lands on Odo island (a deep cut from Godzilla lore) to fix a fictitious engine problem. Godzilla attacks and kills almost everyone on the island, but Shikishima doesn't defend.

When Shikishima returns to Tokyo he finds that the Allied firebombing has entirely destroyed Tokyo. His parents have passed away, and his house has been reduced to a pile of matchsticks. When Godzilla sets foot on Japanese soil, chaos and devastation increase even further. But in the end, it is destroyed, and just a portion of its flesh survives to regenerate in the water.

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Godzilla Minus One is currently not available for streaming.