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Godzilla Minus One' Director Takashi Yamazaki Unveils First Footage of Robot Epic 'Grandgear

The Oscar-winning filmmaker showed off his first English-language project at CinemaCon, a sci-fi spectacle backed by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot and set for a February 2028 release.

Godzilla Minus One' Director Takashi Yamazaki Unveils First Footage of Robot Epic 'Grandgear
Godzilla Minus One' Director Takashi Yamazaki Unv…      Takashi Yamazaki    Dick Thomas Johnson / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
By Free News Press Editorial Team
Published April 15, 2026 at 8:35 PM PDT

Takashi Yamazaki, the director behind the global smash *Godzilla Minus One*, debuted first footage from his next project during Sony's CinemaCon presentation on Monday night. The film, titled *Grandgear*, is a robot-centric sci-fi epic — and it represents a major milestone as Yamazaki's first English-language feature.

According to Collider, the brief footage showed two massive machines locked in brutal combat, trading blows in sequences that promise the same visual spectacle Yamazaki brought to his kaiju hit. Story details remain under wraps, but the scale was unmistakable.

*Grandgear* will be backed by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot and is scheduled to arrive in theaters on February 18, 2028. For Yamazaki, the project represents a natural evolution. *Godzilla Minus One* earned $116 million worldwide against a modest $15 million budget and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, putting the Japanese filmmaker firmly on Hollywood's radar.

Yamazaki isn't leaving his monster roots behind entirely. A sequel, *Godzilla Minus Zero*, is also expected in theaters later this year. But *Grandgear* signals a broader ambition — trading giant lizards for giant robots while keeping the large-scale destruction and emotional storytelling that made his previous work resonate with audiences worldwide.

Takashi Yamazaki    Dick Thomas Johnson from Tokyo, Japan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)