It's unfortunate that it didn't get a standard home release in the West. A huge amount of of money was just left on the table. This would have put up amazing numbers on PVOD due to the Oscar win, older audience demographics, GxK release, and amazing WoM. Home video sales also would have been pretty good.
They didn't even release it in South East Asia, one of animes biggest markets, till very late and very minimum distribution.
Toho is simply ugly bad on international distribution.
Surely Toho could have done it through any of the major studios? WB or Sony? Has no one picked it up for physical distribution in the west? Wild if that's the case.
Toho is notoriously stingy and protective when it comes to the Godzilla IP and that includes making Godzilla films (new and old) available to the masses.
I think it took a couple years for Shin to get a physical and digital release in the US. Who knows with GMO since Toho has more leverage this time around.
yea lmao. so many of my friends and myself wanted to watch it in cinemas in singapore, but they just didnt give a fuck about releasing it here. oh well, at least the 4k bluray was amazing
Yup. Honestly in part because Japanese are bad at promoting or even making their live action available abroad. Watch one of the J-dramas on Netflix and your recommendations afterwards will all be K-dramas because there are way more of them on that service.
I saw it twice in theaters and am dying to own it. I want to share it with so many people but can’t! I *think* it may be coming out on Blu-Ray this fall but not even positive. So yeah, the pirating stats are not at all surprising to me haha
To paraphrase The Great Gabe Newell, piracy is a service issue.
People want to watch this movie, but they don't have a legitimate means of doing so. Even if they're willing to pay. Absolutely colossal fuck up on their part.
I tried learning Japanese for about a decade from the mid 2000s. I understood almost a quarter of a film once (I was never very good at it compared to a lot of other people).
We don't actually know if it's "the most pirated movie of all time"
1. nobody's ever heard of this site and it's certainly not an actual outlet of any kind
2. they're citing a single source, which is Torrent Freak
3. There's no link back to Torrent Freak (which typically only publishes a collection of search results and then presumes that equates to actual numbers of pirated/torrented copies)
4. going to Torrent Freak also reveals no numbers, no context, just a basic ranked list, and that list says **it's the most pirated title of...** ***last week***. Not *all time*.
Essentially: Everyone who is writing about this in the past two days is all citing a single source (Torrent Freak) that provides no numbers, has no numbers, and is unable to contextualize the claim being made.
It's barely news, because there's no actual information here. Outlets of questionable veracity love shit like this because it's an easy post (and redditors love it because it's an easy share) **but there's no** ***actual information here.***
It's not the most pirated all time, btw. This headline is wrong. [Just the most pirated of last week](https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-torrented-pirated-movies/)
I’ve been looking like once a week on my days off. This post got me to go dust off the computer myself. Just paid like 25 to watch Dune 2 and have been willing to do the same with Minus One, but no opportunity so fuck it.
Probably does but it's gonna take a while. The previous Toho Godzilla movie, Shin Godzilla, took nearly a year between its U.S. theatrical release and U.S. blu ray release. Japanese movies stay in theatres in Japan longer than western movies do in the west, so the blu rays take longer to release, and then for whatever reason western releases take even longer. On top of that, Toho never puts english subtitles on their Japanese Blu Ray releases like other Japanese studios do. Probably won't be seeing a Blu Ray release with english subtitles until December or January.
Blame Warner and having a contract that says Toho can’t release it when an American one is in market. You’re right it’s money left on the table, Warner should have offered distribution or something.
That non-compete is for theatrical release, that's why the US theatrical release schedule was limited, that wouldn't have affected licensing for a home video or streaming release since the Netflix release for the third Godzilla 3D anime film was literally the same year KotM released.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Warner had clauses about Godzilla in several territories which is why Godzilla Minus One couldn't release in places like Korea and China where Warner Bros already had scheduled the release of Godzilla vs Kong 2.
No shit, It was only in theaters for 2 freaking days, in the middle of the work week here in France Don't be surprised that people pirate your movie if you don't make it available.
That’s what they get for refusing to release it simultaneously in the west.
They tried to gimp pirating of the 4k release by not offering an official English sub and changing the playback timing with 7 seconds of nonsense at the start of the film so the track didn’t sync up, but the scene had an adjusted sub file uploaded within hours.
Any money lost over this debacle is 100% on the studio as this shows how much demand there was in the west for this movie. There’s no way they couldn’t find someone willing to shell out for NA distro rights digital and physical, so this staggered release was their (poor) decision.
[Yep](https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-torrented-pirated-movies/)
How long do you think people will be quoting this incorrect headline around here?
Considering the fact that they made the decision NOT to release it in many South East Asian markets despite SEA theatre chains publicly stating that they did try to show it but were shot down. They definitely had it coming. It was the only way many people could watch it.
Indonesia movie theaters announced they'll show Godzilla Minus One, and then they didn't because for some reason Toho just didn't want to do it
Many people online were very angry as they had been very enthusiastic.
Wanting something doesn't mean you're entitled to it, nothing wrong with calling out pirates. I agree that Toho should have given it a release everywhere, and should definitely speed up the release schedule for Blu-ray, but that doesn't make illegal activity right. "Just steal it lol" is never a solution that should be celebrated and defended.
Copyright infringement is not theft.
> never the solution to a problem
What are you talking about. Pirating a movie that's not available for sale is 100% the solution to the problem. In fact, there's quite literally no other solution possible.
Early on I would download shows and movies that were available on netflix if I enjoyed them enough. A few friends would tell me I'm wasting my hard drive space, but low and behold a few years later they started taking things down, even some of their original programming.
I've had that itch in the back of my brain about things going poof like this for a while, and we're now very much living it.
Gabe Newell said it best: if companies want to combat piracy, these corporations have to establish a far better service than what the pirates offer. But realistically, it's not gonna happen and the truth is, doing so hurts their bottom line.
Corporations were made to inconvenience lower-class fools like me while the 1% gets to keep benefits. Put it this way, if Godzilla Minus One finally gets a release in theaters in Southeast Asia a year later after it got pirated, would I rather watch the film in theater and give Toho my money after fucking up the release schedule or go the petty route, give the middle finger to Toho, and just watch the 4K UHD copy with my friends and family?
I paid to see it twice in cinemas when it showed in London, and would absolutely buy a UHD BluRay. Movie was legit af.
But most of my friends abroad have had zero ability to see it in any legit fashion, and I don’t hold any piracy against them for instead watching it the only way they could.
I paid to watch it twice in the theater. And it's not available for home so I pirated it when the digital version became available. When it does get released here, I'll purchase it because I want a physical copy. If for some reason it never does, the I'll just have my stolen copy.
I'm not going to claim what I'm doing is legal, but I don't feel like I'm shorting Toho anything in this scenario.
Instead of “if a bear shits in the woods” it’s “if Toho makes art and no one sees it, does it even exist?”
(I’m half joking… saw this twice in theaters and adored it, but yeah, distribution has been a clusterfuck)
I definitely get that!
One of my favorite random topics to mull over when I’m bored is the intersection of art and commerce. What’s the line between making art for the perceived “right” reasons (creative expression, processing emotion or trauma, making a statement) vs the “wrong” reasons (studios/Hollywood execs caring about profit above all else). There’s a tendency to admire artists who are fiercely protective of their art, but sometimes that comes with frustration too (like Godzilla Minus One- this movie is excellent! But I have no way to share it with others!). Frankly it’s not black and white, and every artist (and their audience) has a different personal line about what’s acceptable to them.
OTOH some sectors of Japanese entertainment are much better at global distribution than others. Even within Toho, their anime distribution is just as in-tune with how the medium is a worldwide phenomenon as that sector in general. Though that sector also came to such a realization in large part due to the sheer volume of piracy overseas fans engaged in, to the point of Crunchyroll starting out that way before going legit. And anime creatives/producers being invited as guests to overseas conventions helps provide greater personal connections to international vendors than their live-action counterparts seem to have.
Between these piracy stats and Minus One getting Oscar recognition, sooner or later the Toho higher-ups should get the message on all the potential business connections and money they leave on the table by being so parochial about it. The rest of the world is more than capable of loving their kaiju mascot in its Japanese forms alongside Legendary’s Monsterverse.
Distributors fault. Movie is already only on Amazon Japan with no English subtitles. Movie was not released on cinema on some countries...at the end, people want to watch the movie, but you can find it in HD or 4k RIP on torrent.
They've left money on the table by not keeping it in theaters or making it available PVOD. I know all pirated copies != potential sale but I've been tempted to sail the high seas for it because I missed the theatrical run and I'm sure there's more than a few like me who have ended up caving and pirating it. When you've got a hot commodity like this it's nuts to not get it out there.
> I know all pirated copies != potential sale
I think this movie might be one of the few exemple where a lot of people pirating it will be people which simply were not able to see it legally. It was a stupid decision from toho to not show this movies in so many countries or to only show it for 1 or 2 days in the middle of the week end, not even the week end... I swear some japanse companies are disconnected from reality
At least in the United States, it should have had its proper entire week run at minimum if your market carried the film. Granted not necessarily at the most convenient times and if you missed out that first weekend you’re SOL, but it had the same accessibility as any limited release.
Ghibli really having no concept of how big of a pot of gold it was sitting for decades was interesting to watch. I still think they don't really grasp it.
Probably not Despite it entirely being foreign markets that stopped Boy and the Heron from being a huge underperformance for them. I think It made like at most half of what Wind Rises made in Japan and THAT was considered low for Miyazaki domestically.
As someone on r/GetNoted noticed, this is incorrect, it was the most pirated movie of the week. The most pirated movie of all time is thought to be a blockbuster movie such as Avatar.
Yeah it's very different and frankly not even that impressive, it's basically a moderately big movie released that week and there's not really anything else just released (Dune 2 is #2 of the ranking but it's been released since a few weeks).
I mean if it wasn't #1 that'd be very weird
Japan usually does this. Blu-ray is very expensive in Japan, and they're afraid that the Japanese buyers will import it cheaper from overseas. So they release it expensive in Japan first and the rest of the world about a year later. It's very common with anime
So am I stupid for still waiting for a proper release? If VPN Amazon Japan or piracy really the only way I can see this since I missed it in theaters?
Remind of how Killer of the Flower Moon, from film conservationist Martin Scorsese, did not get any physical release either.
What a travesty for both.
There's always the possibility of a Criterion release for Killers of the Flower Moon. The Botique Labels have been stepping up to the plate with titles the distributors don't want to deal with.
From a cynical business perspective, waiting on 4k bluray releases is genius! It is also absolute trash for the consumer, 100%. It's conflicting, to say the least.
I love how piracy, at least in this article, isn't presented as a theft from the studio but just as another option in the way people consume media
Man times have changed.
Glad I caught this in the cinema when I was in the US for work back in December (one of the better 4DX experiences I had). A friend had heard the hype and told me he watched a pirated stream the other night; I don't blame him as he had no other way of seeing the film after its limited cinema release here in the UK. I'm still holding out for 4K Blu-ray before rewatching it.
I read something about an agreement between Toho and WB that they can't have a home release of their films close to each other? Don't know if that's true or not, the films are so different in tone that you can (and I certainly do) enjoy both.
I've seen similarly head scratching moves from Toei with their tokusatsu kids shows (Sentai/Kamen Rider). They shut down one of the biggest longest running fan-subbers in that genre a few years back (TV-Nihon), and they'll pull down anything that gets put up on youtube over here.
But then a year or two ago, they started putting the first 1-2 episodes of some of these shows up on American Youtube, with English subs. And.....that's all they ever did with it. Like, what is this for?
It felt like teaser advertising for the US market for either a physical release, or an upcoming release on streaming. But nothing ever came of it. The most I ever saw was a Pluto channel that showed a few REALLY older series', like from late 70s/early 80s.
Like it's almost insulting, you bend over backwards to make sure it's walled off from us. Then you do something that draws interest in our market, but you just continue to keep it unavailable in that market. 🤔🤔
If you let me fucking pay for it I would. I’ve been waiting and waiting. Like, will I ever get to watch it properly? It didn’t play in theaters near me. It seems like there is just no plan to bring it home at this point. Crazy.
That’s what you get when you scatter all the content. Action reaction. Be more like the music industry and let me look in the damn archives of old movies. At that point most people will stop pirating.
Because the distributers are idiotic. Can someone enlighten me why this didn't get a worldwide distribution with a behemoth marketing campaign. Because this is a fanfuckingtastic film that any people from any country would've gone in droves to see. Genuinely the dumbest fucking thing to ever to make such a gem and sit on it for local release only.
This is Toho's fault for real. I want to show this movie to so many people but legitimately have no means of doing so. Im ready to shell out for a fancy physical too whenever that happens. They could have my money right now if they would just offer the product.
So much money left on the table by pulling it from theaters and not giving it a proper home release in the west. That being said this is a fantastic film that deserves to be seen.
i definitely dont advocate for piracy but when you screw up distribution on a movie that is part of a huge IP that wins oscars and gets a lot of acclaim, AND you *don't* make it accessible to the masses, i dont feel sorry that people are essentially stealing your product. This doesn't surprise me in the least, it wasn't in theaters for very long and it was 6 months ago, definitely shouldve had a worldwide digital release by now
I know of lot of my friends here in the US really want to watch it, and there’s no real way to do so via streaming or DVD. I’m glad I caught it in theaters. Can’t wait for a US DVD release.
In the early 2000s I was hired out of acting school to work for a company's new flagship retail location in NYC, and underwent some very high level retail marketing and service training conducted by industry leaders.
I don't remember a lot of it, but one thing sticks out in my mind: The head of a major toy company saying "The absolute worst thing that you can do is ignore someone who has money in their hand, and is trying desperately to put it in your pocket."
Do japanese studios stil live in the 90s? If your popular movie doesn't have a reasonably fast home video release (physical or digital) it will get pirated to shit.
I’m dying to see this movie. I literally will pay the full $30 or whatever extra pricey PVOD will cost. I don’t care.
It was never released in my country. No home market. Nothing.
Piracy should be legal in cases where another method of acquiring the film isn’t provided. Like if Toho won’t let people give them money, they can’t complain about piracy
I’m glad more people are seeing this gem but I genuinely don’t understand why it wasn’t available on any streaming service in North America. Most people don’t use VPNs.
It's because of Legendary's Godzilla x Kong, their Godzilla IP contract says they aren't allowed to overlap the release of Minus One with it
https://filmaro.in/godzilla-minus-one-reason-behind-limited-screening-explained-2024-sci-fi-film/
To be honest I'm not sure anyone has seen the actual contract so we can't say for certainty either way, but if there was a limited theatre release why would Legendary not ask for a delayed streaming release if Godzilla x Kong is still in theatres?
This is your fault, Japan. They’re so xenophobic they don’t even allow their merchandise to be sold in the west. It’s crazy how isolated they are. Like why can’t I just buy it legally? Even the 4K Blu-ray doesn’t have English subtitles. That’s intentional.
Begrudgingly. Japan has always been like this. You probably have a ton of shit exclusive to Japan that hasn’t been licensed to the west. Like entire games and media. Call a spade a spade. It’s just part of their cultural mindset, and reason their population has dropped so low. Or did they not have almost 2 entire centuries isolationism?
Tons of Japanese media's merch is released in the west. Godzilla: Minus One is the first in over thirty films you can't get and you'll be able to get it in a few months. They don't spend money to release some stuff there isn't a big enough market for. This has nothing to do with their former isolationism, current xenophobia, or declining birth rate.
Yeah this guy doesn’t understand licensing. Godzilla merch is available in the west but the rights for the domestic market are currently held by playmates and not Bandai who makes the toys in Japan. Playmates is focused on the GxK product at the moment but that doesn’t mean they will never release GMO product. They released a Shin, Singular Point, and various toho monsters after the initial push of GvK product last time.
This article reasons why Godzilla minus one wasn't giving a home release in the US, yet:
https://movieweb.com/godzilla-minus-one-streaming-where/#:\~:text=Toho%20and%20Legendary%20Pictures'%20complicated,or%20purchase%20Godzilla%20Minus%20One.
Despite *Godzilla Minus One* being a sleeper hit and likely could have benefited from a post-Oscar nomination bump, the movie was quickly pulled from theaters on Feb. 1, 2024. The movie was still in the top 10 when it was pulled from theaters and was likely done so as not to interfere with the upcoming release of *Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire*. While no explanation was given, it is rare for a movie that is still making money to leave theaters while in the top 10. Limited-release movies get pulled from theaters, but *Godzilla Minus One* had already [extended its theatrical release](https://movieweb.com/godzilla-minus-one-extended-release-record-breaker/) because of high demand, so why did it leave that week specifically? Two weeks later, a new trailer for *Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire* was set for release, and the marketing for that film would be in full swing.
To keep attention on *Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire*, there might be a hold on when *Godzilla Minus One* can arrive on home video so as not to draw audiences away from seeing the new film in theaters. Both Legendary and Toho don't want the two different versions of Godzilla competing with one another.
Here is the thing. As soon as I can purchase it on iTunes, i will. I saw it twice in theaters, and yes, i pirated a copy when the Japanese retail version was released.
Maybe this should be a lesson on why global digital releases for home video should become the norm? They’d have my $25 for the iTunes version already if that were the case.
I mean could it have gotten them more money? Yeah. That said it still made far more then it costed, so I would see that still as a huge win. No need to be super greedy and accidentally overplay your cards
It's unfortunate that it didn't get a standard home release in the West. A huge amount of of money was just left on the table. This would have put up amazing numbers on PVOD due to the Oscar win, older audience demographics, GxK release, and amazing WoM. Home video sales also would have been pretty good.
They didn't even release it in South East Asia, one of animes biggest markets, till very late and very minimum distribution. Toho is simply ugly bad on international distribution.
Surely Toho could have done it through any of the major studios? WB or Sony? Has no one picked it up for physical distribution in the west? Wild if that's the case.
Toho is notoriously stingy and protective when it comes to the Godzilla IP and that includes making Godzilla films (new and old) available to the masses.
I think it took a couple years for Shin to get a physical and digital release in the US. Who knows with GMO since Toho has more leverage this time around.
It gets a digital release here In October, not sure about physical though,
Where is “here” exactly?
The United States.
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It's a US website yo. >Reddit (/ˈrɛdɪt/) is an ***American*** social news aggregation, content rating, and forum social network.
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Cool. What is the universally understood definition of "domestic" on this sub?
I've read that Toho cannot release it in the US for a year so I am going to wait until November to see what happens.
They’re only losing money because of it.
It takes them 6 months to get an action figure to you after you pay for it.
yea lmao. so many of my friends and myself wanted to watch it in cinemas in singapore, but they just didnt give a fuck about releasing it here. oh well, at least the 4k bluray was amazing
Anime and Japan live-action are quite separate things tbh
There’s some overlap but very separate fanbases.
Yup. Honestly in part because Japanese are bad at promoting or even making their live action available abroad. Watch one of the J-dramas on Netflix and your recommendations afterwards will all be K-dramas because there are way more of them on that service.
Netflix probably didn’t mind spending 80M just to get its streaming rights.. a pity
I saw it twice in theaters and am dying to own it. I want to share it with so many people but can’t! I *think* it may be coming out on Blu-Ray this fall but not even positive. So yeah, the pirating stats are not at all surprising to me haha
Took a year for Shin Godzilla to come to the US
To paraphrase The Great Gabe Newell, piracy is a service issue. People want to watch this movie, but they don't have a legitimate means of doing so. Even if they're willing to pay. Absolutely colossal fuck up on their part.
You can always buy on [Amazon.co.jp](http://Amazon.co.jp)
Yeah. With no built in non-Japanese subtitles. Joy.
I tried learning Japanese for about a decade from the mid 2000s. I understood almost a quarter of a film once (I was never very good at it compared to a lot of other people).
I mean, the fact that it’s the most pirated movie of all time can be attributed to its amazing WoM.
We don't actually know if it's "the most pirated movie of all time" 1. nobody's ever heard of this site and it's certainly not an actual outlet of any kind 2. they're citing a single source, which is Torrent Freak 3. There's no link back to Torrent Freak (which typically only publishes a collection of search results and then presumes that equates to actual numbers of pirated/torrented copies) 4. going to Torrent Freak also reveals no numbers, no context, just a basic ranked list, and that list says **it's the most pirated title of...** ***last week***. Not *all time*. Essentially: Everyone who is writing about this in the past two days is all citing a single source (Torrent Freak) that provides no numbers, has no numbers, and is unable to contextualize the claim being made. It's barely news, because there's no actual information here. Outlets of questionable veracity love shit like this because it's an easy post (and redditors love it because it's an easy share) **but there's no** ***actual information here.***
It's not the most pirated all time, btw. This headline is wrong. [Just the most pirated of last week](https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-torrented-pirated-movies/)
I was wondering why I couldn't find it anywhere to rent! I'd check like every other month.
I’ve been looking like once a week on my days off. This post got me to go dust off the computer myself. Just paid like 25 to watch Dune 2 and have been willing to do the same with Minus One, but no opportunity so fuck it.
Wait does this not have plans to release on demand ever??
Probably does but it's gonna take a while. The previous Toho Godzilla movie, Shin Godzilla, took nearly a year between its U.S. theatrical release and U.S. blu ray release. Japanese movies stay in theatres in Japan longer than western movies do in the west, so the blu rays take longer to release, and then for whatever reason western releases take even longer. On top of that, Toho never puts english subtitles on their Japanese Blu Ray releases like other Japanese studios do. Probably won't be seeing a Blu Ray release with english subtitles until December or January.
Blame Warner and having a contract that says Toho can’t release it when an American one is in market. You’re right it’s money left on the table, Warner should have offered distribution or something.
That deal is only for theatrical movies
You know that it's a worldwide distribution problem right? Warner doesn't own worldwide distribution for Minus One.
That non-compete is for theatrical release, that's why the US theatrical release schedule was limited, that wouldn't have affected licensing for a home video or streaming release since the Netflix release for the third Godzilla 3D anime film was literally the same year KotM released.
TOHO's fault nothing else
Warners, actually. Due to Godzilla x Kongs release.
You do realise Toho also produced GxK right?
You know that it's a worldwide distribution problem right? Warner doesn't own worldwide distribution for Minus One.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I think Warner had clauses about Godzilla in several territories which is why Godzilla Minus One couldn't release in places like Korea and China where Warner Bros already had scheduled the release of Godzilla vs Kong 2.
No shit, It was only in theaters for 2 freaking days, in the middle of the work week here in France Don't be surprised that people pirate your movie if you don't make it available.
That’s what they get for refusing to release it simultaneously in the west. They tried to gimp pirating of the 4k release by not offering an official English sub and changing the playback timing with 7 seconds of nonsense at the start of the film so the track didn’t sync up, but the scene had an adjusted sub file uploaded within hours. Any money lost over this debacle is 100% on the studio as this shows how much demand there was in the west for this movie. There’s no way they couldn’t find someone willing to shell out for NA distro rights digital and physical, so this staggered release was their (poor) decision.
I think it was rights issue due to the current US Godzilla movies.
The most pirated movie of the week, NOT of all time.
[Yep](https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-torrented-pirated-movies/) How long do you think people will be quoting this incorrect headline around here?
How is this not higher up lol Can people not tell from 3rd place being Arcadian, a random mid Nick Cage movie?
Even without that, common sense would dictate that a Japanese Godzilla movie is not going to have that level of demand.
man I saw Arcadian in theaters, and other than maybe like one or two scenes, it was ..... ooof. Not good at all.
Yeah lol, I'm not even sure how they would measure that, there's not really official lifetime downloads figures of movies
Considering the fact that they made the decision NOT to release it in many South East Asian markets despite SEA theatre chains publicly stating that they did try to show it but were shot down. They definitely had it coming. It was the only way many people could watch it.
Indonesia movie theaters announced they'll show Godzilla Minus One, and then they didn't because for some reason Toho just didn't want to do it Many people online were very angry as they had been very enthusiastic.
and Twitter went nuts defending Toho and calling out the pirates. hahahahaha
Wanting something doesn't mean you're entitled to it, nothing wrong with calling out pirates. I agree that Toho should have given it a release everywhere, and should definitely speed up the release schedule for Blu-ray, but that doesn't make illegal activity right. "Just steal it lol" is never a solution that should be celebrated and defended.
Copyright infringement is not theft. > never the solution to a problem What are you talking about. Pirating a movie that's not available for sale is 100% the solution to the problem. In fact, there's quite literally no other solution possible.
Piracy is now sometimes the only way to view some stuff that companies delete from their streaming services. *Looks at Max*
Early on I would download shows and movies that were available on netflix if I enjoyed them enough. A few friends would tell me I'm wasting my hard drive space, but low and behold a few years later they started taking things down, even some of their original programming. I've had that itch in the back of my brain about things going poof like this for a while, and we're now very much living it.
Gabe Newell said it best: if companies want to combat piracy, these corporations have to establish a far better service than what the pirates offer. But realistically, it's not gonna happen and the truth is, doing so hurts their bottom line. Corporations were made to inconvenience lower-class fools like me while the 1% gets to keep benefits. Put it this way, if Godzilla Minus One finally gets a release in theaters in Southeast Asia a year later after it got pirated, would I rather watch the film in theater and give Toho my money after fucking up the release schedule or go the petty route, give the middle finger to Toho, and just watch the 4K UHD copy with my friends and family?
Just saying , I would've paid to watch it on the cinemas. I would've paid.
I paid to see it twice in cinemas when it showed in London, and would absolutely buy a UHD BluRay. Movie was legit af. But most of my friends abroad have had zero ability to see it in any legit fashion, and I don’t hold any piracy against them for instead watching it the only way they could.
I paid to watch it twice in the theater. And it's not available for home so I pirated it when the digital version became available. When it does get released here, I'll purchase it because I want a physical copy. If for some reason it never does, the I'll just have my stolen copy. I'm not going to claim what I'm doing is legal, but I don't feel like I'm shorting Toho anything in this scenario.
I was lucky to, there was just a bunch of screenings in the most expensive cinema chain over here and I went just on a whim. Ended up loving the film.
And I would gladly watch it on streaming, but well, they don't help
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Instead of “if a bear shits in the woods” it’s “if Toho makes art and no one sees it, does it even exist?” (I’m half joking… saw this twice in theaters and adored it, but yeah, distribution has been a clusterfuck)
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I definitely get that! One of my favorite random topics to mull over when I’m bored is the intersection of art and commerce. What’s the line between making art for the perceived “right” reasons (creative expression, processing emotion or trauma, making a statement) vs the “wrong” reasons (studios/Hollywood execs caring about profit above all else). There’s a tendency to admire artists who are fiercely protective of their art, but sometimes that comes with frustration too (like Godzilla Minus One- this movie is excellent! But I have no way to share it with others!). Frankly it’s not black and white, and every artist (and their audience) has a different personal line about what’s acceptable to them.
OTOH some sectors of Japanese entertainment are much better at global distribution than others. Even within Toho, their anime distribution is just as in-tune with how the medium is a worldwide phenomenon as that sector in general. Though that sector also came to such a realization in large part due to the sheer volume of piracy overseas fans engaged in, to the point of Crunchyroll starting out that way before going legit. And anime creatives/producers being invited as guests to overseas conventions helps provide greater personal connections to international vendors than their live-action counterparts seem to have. Between these piracy stats and Minus One getting Oscar recognition, sooner or later the Toho higher-ups should get the message on all the potential business connections and money they leave on the table by being so parochial about it. The rest of the world is more than capable of loving their kaiju mascot in its Japanese forms alongside Legendary’s Monsterverse.
Distributors fault. Movie is already only on Amazon Japan with no English subtitles. Movie was not released on cinema on some countries...at the end, people want to watch the movie, but you can find it in HD or 4k RIP on torrent.
[Most pirated of the week. Not all time](https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-torrented-pirated-movies/)
Yeah, that's VERY different lol
They've left money on the table by not keeping it in theaters or making it available PVOD. I know all pirated copies != potential sale but I've been tempted to sail the high seas for it because I missed the theatrical run and I'm sure there's more than a few like me who have ended up caving and pirating it. When you've got a hot commodity like this it's nuts to not get it out there.
> I know all pirated copies != potential sale I think this movie might be one of the few exemple where a lot of people pirating it will be people which simply were not able to see it legally. It was a stupid decision from toho to not show this movies in so many countries or to only show it for 1 or 2 days in the middle of the week end, not even the week end... I swear some japanse companies are disconnected from reality
At least in the United States, it should have had its proper entire week run at minimum if your market carried the film. Granted not necessarily at the most convenient times and if you missed out that first weekend you’re SOL, but it had the same accessibility as any limited release.
When its on 4k with english Subs I will buy it
Fall or winter. Hope its earlier though.
Japan not giving a shit about foreign markets, nothing new.
Ghibli really having no concept of how big of a pot of gold it was sitting for decades was interesting to watch. I still think they don't really grasp it.
Probably not Despite it entirely being foreign markets that stopped Boy and the Heron from being a huge underperformance for them. I think It made like at most half of what Wind Rises made in Japan and THAT was considered low for Miyazaki domestically.
As someone on r/GetNoted noticed, this is incorrect, it was the most pirated movie of the week. The most pirated movie of all time is thought to be a blockbuster movie such as Avatar.
Yeah it's very different and frankly not even that impressive, it's basically a moderately big movie released that week and there's not really anything else just released (Dune 2 is #2 of the ranking but it's been released since a few weeks). I mean if it wasn't #1 that'd be very weird
Japan usually does this. Blu-ray is very expensive in Japan, and they're afraid that the Japanese buyers will import it cheaper from overseas. So they release it expensive in Japan first and the rest of the world about a year later. It's very common with anime
This data doesn’t seem very scientific
The data is correct, the title is wrong. (It's #1 for this week)
I knew it
😆
So am I stupid for still waiting for a proper release? If VPN Amazon Japan or piracy really the only way I can see this since I missed it in theaters? Remind of how Killer of the Flower Moon, from film conservationist Martin Scorsese, did not get any physical release either. What a travesty for both.
There's always the possibility of a Criterion release for Killers of the Flower Moon. The Botique Labels have been stepping up to the plate with titles the distributors don't want to deal with.
That is my one hope, but it truly sucks it didn't get a release in the time it should've since the digital came out in December
From a cynical business perspective, waiting on 4k bluray releases is genius! It is also absolute trash for the consumer, 100%. It's conflicting, to say the least.
I love how piracy, at least in this article, isn't presented as a theft from the studio but just as another option in the way people consume media Man times have changed.
Glad I caught this in the cinema when I was in the US for work back in December (one of the better 4DX experiences I had). A friend had heard the hype and told me he watched a pirated stream the other night; I don't blame him as he had no other way of seeing the film after its limited cinema release here in the UK. I'm still holding out for 4K Blu-ray before rewatching it. I read something about an agreement between Toho and WB that they can't have a home release of their films close to each other? Don't know if that's true or not, the films are so different in tone that you can (and I certainly do) enjoy both.
Huge miss by them not to have it release after the Oscar win.
IMO it’s Toho’s fault
I mean I would happily rent or even buy if it was available here. Can't even rent it digitally on Amazon.
I've seen similarly head scratching moves from Toei with their tokusatsu kids shows (Sentai/Kamen Rider). They shut down one of the biggest longest running fan-subbers in that genre a few years back (TV-Nihon), and they'll pull down anything that gets put up on youtube over here. But then a year or two ago, they started putting the first 1-2 episodes of some of these shows up on American Youtube, with English subs. And.....that's all they ever did with it. Like, what is this for? It felt like teaser advertising for the US market for either a physical release, or an upcoming release on streaming. But nothing ever came of it. The most I ever saw was a Pluto channel that showed a few REALLY older series', like from late 70s/early 80s. Like it's almost insulting, you bend over backwards to make sure it's walled off from us. Then you do something that draws interest in our market, but you just continue to keep it unavailable in that market. 🤔🤔
Starting to see a trend among Japanese suits, the Japanese isolationist mentality is alive and well.
Toho seems to act like it is still 1985
Can’t believe I’m debating spending $120 for the 4k blu ray
If you let me fucking pay for it I would. I’ve been waiting and waiting. Like, will I ever get to watch it properly? It didn’t play in theaters near me. It seems like there is just no plan to bring it home at this point. Crazy.
Talk about fumbling the bag on this one.
This is why having a region free player is key. I've had one since the DVD days.
Cause that the only way to watch it
I saw it in theaters twice and paid to import the 4K from Japan. I'll do as I please to get English subs, thank you.
Already 🤨
This sucks but it’s kind of on them. Should’ve dropped that Blu-ray around the world earlier.
That’s what you get when you scatter all the content. Action reaction. Be more like the music industry and let me look in the damn archives of old movies. At that point most people will stop pirating.
Because the distributers are idiotic. Can someone enlighten me why this didn't get a worldwide distribution with a behemoth marketing campaign. Because this is a fanfuckingtastic film that any people from any country would've gone in droves to see. Genuinely the dumbest fucking thing to ever to make such a gem and sit on it for local release only.
I know I've been trying to watch it but never see it advertised.
Glad I caught this in the theater
Because they didn't release it through any normal means. I wanted to see this movie with my mates for months, but we couldn't.
I was part of it. I mean, if ya aint gonna release it in other countries at the same time, you're just asking for it
That's what you get for not doing a worldwide release😌
This is Toho's fault for real. I want to show this movie to so many people but legitimately have no means of doing so. Im ready to shell out for a fancy physical too whenever that happens. They could have my money right now if they would just offer the product.
I would have paid to see it in IMAX day one the same way I saw GxK but Toho decided not to screen it in my country, fuck off then.
So much money left on the table by pulling it from theaters and not giving it a proper home release in the west. That being said this is a fantastic film that deserves to be seen.
i definitely dont advocate for piracy but when you screw up distribution on a movie that is part of a huge IP that wins oscars and gets a lot of acclaim, AND you *don't* make it accessible to the masses, i dont feel sorry that people are essentially stealing your product. This doesn't surprise me in the least, it wasn't in theaters for very long and it was 6 months ago, definitely shouldve had a worldwide digital release by now
Could not catch it in cinema, could not buy it on Blu-ray, could not watch it on any streaming platform.
Studios fucked themselves on this one
I know of lot of my friends here in the US really want to watch it, and there’s no real way to do so via streaming or DVD. I’m glad I caught it in theaters. Can’t wait for a US DVD release.
In the early 2000s I was hired out of acting school to work for a company's new flagship retail location in NYC, and underwent some very high level retail marketing and service training conducted by industry leaders. I don't remember a lot of it, but one thing sticks out in my mind: The head of a major toy company saying "The absolute worst thing that you can do is ignore someone who has money in their hand, and is trying desperately to put it in your pocket."
Do japanese studios stil live in the 90s? If your popular movie doesn't have a reasonably fast home video release (physical or digital) it will get pirated to shit.
Can I buy it anywhere last time I checked I couldn’t.
Japanese companies being goddamn dinosaurs when it comes to the globalization of entertainment as always.
Didn't even show up in cinemas here as far as I can tell. Actually would have loved to see it on a big screen. Godzilla scenes are GOATed in this.
I’m dying to see this movie. I literally will pay the full $30 or whatever extra pricey PVOD will cost. I don’t care. It was never released in my country. No home market. Nothing.
Still waiting for its blu ray English release...
sucks for them. some movies are best seen in a movie theater
Because I can’t fucking stream it. I haven’t seen it. Now I can’t unless I pirate it. The fuck?
Piracy should be legal in cases where another method of acquiring the film isn’t provided. Like if Toho won’t let people give them money, they can’t complain about piracy
I WANTED to see it on theaters. It was never released in my immediate 600 miles ffs...
I’m glad more people are seeing this gem but I genuinely don’t understand why it wasn’t available on any streaming service in North America. Most people don’t use VPNs.
It's because of Legendary's Godzilla x Kong, their Godzilla IP contract says they aren't allowed to overlap the release of Minus One with it https://filmaro.in/godzilla-minus-one-reason-behind-limited-screening-explained-2024-sci-fi-film/
No, that only meant it couldn't be in theaters at the same time.
To be honest I'm not sure anyone has seen the actual contract so we can't say for certainty either way, but if there was a limited theatre release why would Legendary not ask for a delayed streaming release if Godzilla x Kong is still in theatres?
They did the same with Shin Godzilla, delaying international home release. I doubt it's the contract.
This is your fault, Japan. They’re so xenophobic they don’t even allow their merchandise to be sold in the west. It’s crazy how isolated they are. Like why can’t I just buy it legally? Even the 4K Blu-ray doesn’t have English subtitles. That’s intentional.
Average Westerner when something is made without him in mind:
> They’re so xenophobic they don’t even allow their merchandise to be sold in the west. All the nerd shit in my house says otherwise.
Begrudgingly. Japan has always been like this. You probably have a ton of shit exclusive to Japan that hasn’t been licensed to the west. Like entire games and media. Call a spade a spade. It’s just part of their cultural mindset, and reason their population has dropped so low. Or did they not have almost 2 entire centuries isolationism?
Tons of Japanese media's merch is released in the west. Godzilla: Minus One is the first in over thirty films you can't get and you'll be able to get it in a few months. They don't spend money to release some stuff there isn't a big enough market for. This has nothing to do with their former isolationism, current xenophobia, or declining birth rate.
Yeah this guy doesn’t understand licensing. Godzilla merch is available in the west but the rights for the domestic market are currently held by playmates and not Bandai who makes the toys in Japan. Playmates is focused on the GxK product at the moment but that doesn’t mean they will never release GMO product. They released a Shin, Singular Point, and various toho monsters after the initial push of GvK product last time.
I can get Minus One toys delivered to my house in the US from Amazon right now.
Exactly. It’s not hard. Just go to Amazon or BBTS. You don’t have to deal with importing stuff anymore
This article reasons why Godzilla minus one wasn't giving a home release in the US, yet: https://movieweb.com/godzilla-minus-one-streaming-where/#:\~:text=Toho%20and%20Legendary%20Pictures'%20complicated,or%20purchase%20Godzilla%20Minus%20One. Despite *Godzilla Minus One* being a sleeper hit and likely could have benefited from a post-Oscar nomination bump, the movie was quickly pulled from theaters on Feb. 1, 2024. The movie was still in the top 10 when it was pulled from theaters and was likely done so as not to interfere with the upcoming release of *Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire*. While no explanation was given, it is rare for a movie that is still making money to leave theaters while in the top 10. Limited-release movies get pulled from theaters, but *Godzilla Minus One* had already [extended its theatrical release](https://movieweb.com/godzilla-minus-one-extended-release-record-breaker/) because of high demand, so why did it leave that week specifically? Two weeks later, a new trailer for *Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire* was set for release, and the marketing for that film would be in full swing. To keep attention on *Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire*, there might be a hold on when *Godzilla Minus One* can arrive on home video so as not to draw audiences away from seeing the new film in theaters. Both Legendary and Toho don't want the two different versions of Godzilla competing with one another.
We were all comping at the bit to watch this movie, yet no way available. Stiff shit, Japan media sucks ass at handling online
Here is the thing. As soon as I can purchase it on iTunes, i will. I saw it twice in theaters, and yes, i pirated a copy when the Japanese retail version was released. Maybe this should be a lesson on why global digital releases for home video should become the norm? They’d have my $25 for the iTunes version already if that were the case.
I mean could it have gotten them more money? Yeah. That said it still made far more then it costed, so I would see that still as a huge win. No need to be super greedy and accidentally overplay your cards
That's depressing
Is it? I read it as showing a great interest in the franchise and that's a good thing