Godzilla Minus Zero Director Takashi Yamazaki Explains the Household Inspiration for the Film’s Big, Brutal Climax

Takashi Yamazaki says his two cats helped inspire the brutal climax of *Godzilla Minus Zero*, in which Godzilla and King Ghidorah fight to the death. He imagined the monsters’ rare shift from playful behaviour to real fighting, lending the scene both animal ferocity and an unsettling sense of sadness.

Yamazaki said he wrote the clash as a duel in which one creature must die, and considered how animals might tear at one another to weaken an opponent. The film’s gory battle uses its R rating, a first for a Godzilla film; it is also the first Japanese film shot for IMAX. *Godzilla Minus Zero* opened in US cinemas on 6 November.