The China Mail - Cinema owners welcome back an old friend as Godzilla sequel unveiled

Directed by Takashi Yamazaki, the offering from Japan's Toho studio is a sequel to 2023's "Godzilla Minus One", which became an international sensation with a box office haul of $116 million as it bagged an Oscar for visual effects.

Yamazaki told cinema-owners that "the immense scale and terror of Godzilla, as well as the human struggle to survive... (is) going to push your screens and your audiences to their limits."

The film —- which hits US theaters on November 6 and stars Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe —- is set in 1949, two years after the events of "Minus One."

It picks up the story of the Shikishima family as they face an even tougher challenge.

"Japan was driven down to minus by Godzilla's attack," Yamazaki said.

"People struggled to rise again and move toward the future. The journey from minus to zero will not be easy."

Yamazaki, who also wrote the screenplay, offered a behind-the-scenes look at the production, along with clips featuring scenes of destruction and the arrival of the imposing monster in New York.

The Japanese director said Godzilla was at home on the big screen.

"Godzilla was born in movie theaters in Japan in 1954 and for over 70 years, its legacy has been deeply and powerfully tied to the theatrical experience -- the overwhelming scale seen on the giant screen and that roar that shakes your seats.

"Godzilla becomes Godzilla when experienced in the theater."

- Warner Bros. slate -

Attendees at the annual get-together also got their first look at the slate of upcoming releases from indie distributor Neon.

The company — which handled the Oscar-winning films "Parasite" and "Anora" — announced it would release "Hope" this year, a South Korean sci-fi thriller starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.

It also has "I Love Boosters" in the pipeline — a film by Boots Riley about a gang of clothing thieves that promises to become a fashionista event in theaters — as well as the thriller "A Place in Hell," which features Michelle Williams and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rivals at a law firm.

Adam Scott ("Severance") joined the studio's presentation to unveil a first look at his film "Hokum," in which he plays a writer who stays at a haunted hotel while searching for his parents' ashes.

The film, which premieres in the United States in May, is directed by Damian Mc Carthy ("Oddity", "Caveat").

Tuesday's main event looked set to be the unveiling of the Warner Bros. slate.

The legacy studio is the subject of a mega bid from rival Paramount Skydance, which has sent ripples of concern through an industry wary of consolidation and fearful for the future.

Pins bearing the slogan "#BlockTheMerger" were spotted being distributed throughout Caesars Palace, where the cinema trade show is taking place.

X.So--ThChM