A new report shed light on when Godzilla Minus One’s streaming release could come about.
The critically acclaimed, Academy Award-winning Godzilla Minus One took a back-to-basics approach with the legendary monster.
Set in 1945 shortly after World War II, the story sees a ragtag group of humans who seek to destroy the titular kaiju before he can reap any further destruction.
When Will Godzilla Minus One Stream Online?
With Godzilla Minus One being such a monster-sized success, one would assume that the movie would be readily available to stream or purchase digitally. However, this is not yet the case.
Godzilla Minus One is not presently on any streaming service or movie retailer’s site, even though it was enormously popular. It just walked out of the Oscars ceremony with the award for Best Visual Effects.
According to a report from Indiewire, the reason for the movie’s streaming absence is an agreement between the Japanese studio Toho, which made Minus One (and produced most of the other Godzilla films in existence, including the historic 1954 original), and Legendary Entertainment, the American company that has brought the recent spate of MonsterVerse films to screen.
A contract was signed between the two production houses, allowing both to make movies featuring Godzilla and release them in a way that prevents either output from competing with the other.
This deal has never been officially confirmed by Toho, but the details line up. Godzilla Minus One was released in theaters on December 1, 2023, and fans of the character likely know that he’s headlining another film that is fast approaching: Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
So with that in mind, it would be correct to assume that Toho doesn’t want Minus One’s streaming debut to hinder or interfere with the release of Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong.
While the film will hit physical media with its Blu-ray release in May, Godzilla Minus One likely won’t be on streaming until later April at the absolute earliest (get all the details on Godzilla Minus One’s Blu-ray release here).
Godzilla Minus One vs. Godzilla x Kong
Per the terms of this apparent IP-sharing agreement, Godzilla Minus One was forced to vacate cinemas on February 1 while it was still enjoying financial success to make way for The New Empire.
So Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire must have its day in the sun before Toho can release Godzilla Minus One on home release and streaming. In short, most of Godzilla x Kong’s theatrical run will likely need to pass before Toho’s Minus One can be added to streaming.
This might dismay fans of the franchise since as of right now, there’s virtually no legal way to watch Godzilla Minus One ever since it left cinemas, but devotees unfortunately have no option but to wait things out.
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire hits theaters on Friday, March 29.
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