Future RoarGodzilla Minus One director Takashi Yamazaki confirms that a follow-up is now in pre-production and says he's got no desire to adopt AI anytime soonOlder technology and techniques still serve him just fine.Image credit: Toho News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Feb. 13, 2025 Godzilla Minus One, one of 2023's best movies, is getting a follow-up that may or may not be a direct sequel (though we're leaning towards 'yes' after that cliffhanger ending). After a relatively silent 2024, writer-director Takashi Yamazaki has now confirmed he's hard at work on pre-production for the movie and has also shared his thoughts on the matter of AI.Toho's refreshed big-screen efforts around the Godzilla franchise seem to be ramping up, all while its collaboration with Legendary Pictures leads into Monarch season 2 plus the third Godzilla x Kong event movie, set to be released in March 2027. Elsewhere, the most famous kaiju of all time has shown up even in off-beat video games like Dave the Diver.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Via Variety, we've learned about Yamazaki's new comments at the Visual Effects Society Awards. There, he confirmed he's currently working on the screenplay as well as the first storyboards for the next Godzilla movie. Moreover, he explained the budget he and his team are anticipating getting from Toho is expected to be higher than $15 million after Godzilla Minus One earned over $113 million globally just with its theatrical run and before making a splash on streaming services like Netflix. Of course, taking home an Oscar for Best VFX also helps Yamazaki's case.On the matter of AI being integrated into the VFX pipeline, he acknowledged its potential (in fact, it's already been crucial to help figure out and deliver simulations for years), but is also worried about losing "what humans can" generate. With generative AI poisoning the entire AI well, this is a discussion that's been hard to keep track of and navigate, which is why Yamazaki plans to keep things traditional while the new uses of AI are figured out and regulated: "Right now, its not in any of our pipelines because of that reason, but the speed at which AI evolves is just so immense that where it goes from here remains to be seen."He also added, quite diplomatically, that he's a bit of an old-school filmmaker who's "still shooting on film" and likes "to use miniatures," so don't expect him to embrace AI, good or not, anytime soon (if at all): "I'm probably going to be one of the later ones, because I do like working with older technology and techniques."