"---You also had a screening invited by Lucasfilm from 'Star Wars'."

[Yamazaki] "My career started with watching 'Star Wars,' so it's truly a sacred place for me. Just having my film watched by creators from ILM, one of the world's top SFX (Special Effects) and VFX production companies, including Dave Filoni (CCO of Lucasfilm), was like a dream. Then, receiving a standing ovation after the screening? Being able to hear feedback directly from the top of the top in VFX production, I was wondering what was happening."

"'Godzilla-1.0' stands as the only live-action film released in Japan in 2023 to surpass 6 billion yen, becoming the No. 1 hit of the year. Moreover, in the United States, it has become the top-grossing live-action Japanese film of all time and the third highest-grossing foreign-language live-action film, leading up to its Academy Award victory. What do you think was the key to its success?"

[Yamazaki] "It's because it was Godzilla. Being Godzilla allowed for the largest scale North American release in the history of live-action Japanese cinema, garnered widespread attention, and I believe, led to the Oscar win. As I've said many times, I feel a great sense of gratitude towards Godzilla for bringing us this far. Moreover, it feels like fate that we stirred the Academy Awards at the milestone of the 70th anniversary of Godzilla's birth (since the release of the first movie in 1954)."

"---'Godzilla-1.0' has also been widely supported for its story of post-war Japanese people rallying to defeat Godzilla."

[Yamazaki] "When we started making it, I never thought it would align so closely with the times. We aimed to create a Godzilla movie that was both frightening and exciting, but upon completion, I realized that making a Godzilla movie might be akin to performing a sacred ritual. It felt like we were creating and dedicating a Godzilla movie to appease a wrathful god who brings calamity, such as wars and natural disasters. You can't kill Godzilla; you can only hope it calms down. This seemed like a very Japanese way of thinking, but with wars happening around the world, I wonder if everyone is hoping for peace. The way it connects with the world in that sense, making it scarier, was quite striking to me."