Godzilla Minus One was truly a spectacle. The film has been regarded as one of the most successful films of the Godzilla film series, and its director, Takashi Yamazaki, can be thanked for it. The film has received a lot of critical acclaim for many different reasons. One of its most prominent assets is its visual effects, impressively winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
The film also made a lot of money during its box office release, almost going above $116 million worldwide. Despite all its success, it would seem that Toho Studios made a huge mistake less than a year after the film’s release that will certainly affect its profit.
Godzilla Minus One is Stuck in the Piracy Cycle
Piracy is one of the most common phenomena in the world of Hollywood. There are many reasons why audiences stream content illegally; be it the unavailability of a film in their region, or not wanting to pay for a streaming service. Due to this, there have been many successful shows and films that have topped these charts.
Game of Thrones has set the record for being the most pirated series of all time, with 8,560 monthly searches in 2022, according to USwitch.
It would seem that Godzilla Minus One has joined this club, as was recently reported by TorrentFreak. In a ranking of the top ten most pirated films of the week, it was revealed that the Takashi Yamazaki film has the highest number for the second time. Its viewership is even higher than Dune: Part Two, which would be quite surprising for many fans.
It is safe to say that no studio would want such a record. However, there is one very big reason why this could be the case.
Toho Studios Made a Grave Mistake
There seems to be a very clear reason why Godzilla Minus One is being so heavily streamed online. It was one of the most beloved projects of last year, so it is only natural that fans have been waiting for its arrival on a streaming service.
The release did finally happen, however, it was only done in Japan. The film has a huge viewership outside of its home country, so only releasing its home video in one country is bound to make fans restless.
Taking its release into their own hands, the film was put on piracy sites and made available to fans. It is safe to assume that the studio behind the film, Toho Studios, is quite upset at the release, as these events are bound to hurt their streaming numbers. However, it is safe to say that the decision to only release the film on home video in one country was not a good one.
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Godzilla Minus One is available in Japan on Amazon Prime Video.
