Everything for a Night at the Movies

8.15.2026

The latest two Godzilla movies I saw in Japan on opening day. In the middle of the summer of 2016, on my way to Jakarta for work I made a pit stop in Japan for Shin Godzilla. Then again, I made a beeline back to Japan for Godzilla Minus One in 2023. But this year my streak of going to Japan for opening will come to an end. When I heard Godzilla Minus Zero would hit U.S. theaters three days after its release in Japan, I decided to stop home this year. It’s not like me not to take an annual trip to Japan trip. It didn’t make fiscal sense nor was it logical to go there and rush back home again for opening day.

Then came the big announcement that Godzilla Minus Zero would made its big world premiere at Spotlight Gala of the 64th New York Film Festival (September 25 through October 12.) on Friday, September 26, at Alice Tully Hall. It got better. Director Takashi Yamazaki and members of the cast and crew will be in attendance.

This changed my calculus! There was a chance to see Godzilla Minus Zero and the director, cast and crew a month earlier and in my own backyard. This is a game changer. I wouldn’t miss the opening day, nor Japan. They are coming to me. My friends and I regularly go to NYC on the weekends for our collectible shopping sprees. And this is all made possible with a Film at Lincoln Center membership. I owed it to myself to do everything possible to attend this premiere and to be a part of this Godzilla history. I will see Director Yamazaki again and then again at the theater!

Alice Tully Hall (Source: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

I jumped on the NYCC website to see the membership costs. Then I paused and pumped the brakes. I asked myself if this makes sense. And after a few hours, the answer was a resounding “Yes.” So I bought a membership that grants pre-sale access to tickets. If tickets sell out before I can get one, I get a shot at a ticket. And that is all I can ask. And I will have no regrets. In the big picture, the cost is minute in comparison to airfare and accommodations for another trip to Japan. Today, in order to improve my chances of acquiring a ticket, I bumped up my membership today which gives me an earlier pre-sale date. As the deadlines and pre-sale dates approach, I’ll jump up another membership level for even earlier ticket access, if it appears tickets are going to sell out on the first day.

Fans have expressed deep concern for spoilers. Because there is a paywall, more serious filmgoers will most likely acquire all tickets during the pre-sale. Fellow fans can rest assured if I have the privilege of attending the premiere of Godzilla Minus Zero, the secrets are safe with me. If everything falls into place, it would have been worth trying everything for this amazing night at the movies.