A $15 million film with 35 visual effects artists won the 2024 Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and its sequel now wants a slot in the Best Picture race. Takashi Yamazaki's "Godzilla Minus Zero," which premiered to strong reviews at the New York Film Festival on Saturday, has prompted early calls for a nomination in the Academy's top category — a category no Godzilla film has ever entered.

The director addressed the prospect directly at the NYFF premiere. "I try not to think about that," Yamazaki told Variety. "This was true of 'Godzilla Minus One' as well. We had no idea we were going to get Best VFX, or even be nominated. Even a nomination was already a win for us."

He did not close the door. "If the possibility is not zero, it's hard not to have a little bit of hope," he said.

How did the first film win?

The mechanism behind the 2024 victory explains why the sequel's campaign carries weight. Yamazaki built 610 effects shots on a $15 million budget with a team of 35 artists. The film beat three studio-scale competitors: Disney's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," Paramount's "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" and Apple's "Napoleon."

The nomination itself set a separate record. Yamazaki, who began his career in visual effects, became the first feature director recognized in the visual effects category since Stanley Kubrick for "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"It's going to take me a few years to process what has happened and what it all means," Yamazaki said on the 2023 awards circuit. "But I have to thank Godzilla for opening the door and paving the way and making it to the Oscars."

Takeaway: the franchise already holds one historic first, which gives its campaign for a second a factual base rather than wishful thinking.

Where does the sequel stand now?

The VFX race is the concrete target. Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis currently lists "Godzilla Minus Zero" among his five predicted nominees for Best Visual Effects when nominations arrive in January. The list runs:

• "Dune: Part Three"
• "Project Hail Mary"
• "Spider-Man: Brand New Day"
• "Wildwood"
• "Godzilla Minus Zero"

A predicted nomination is not a nomination, but placement in a major pundit's top five this early signals that the film has entered the conversation as a contender rather than a long shot.

What does the Best Picture question turn on?

The Best Picture case rests on precedent, not sentiment. The Academy has in recent years made room for effects-heavy genre films in the top category. The comparison the campaign invites is specific: "Joker" and "Dune" were both perceived as IP genre films elevated by prestige auteur filmmaking, and both earned Best Picture recognition.

The hurdle for "Minus Zero" is equally specific. Voters must accept it as more than another installment in a long-running franchise. Yamazaki's auteur profile — a director who rose from the VFX bench and now holds a Kubrick-tier distinction — supplies the prestige argument. The NYFF premiere, a festival berth associated with awards contenders rather than tentpoles, supplies the positioning.

Whether that converts into branch support across the Academy's full membership is the open question, and the January nominations will answer it.

Yamazaki has already stated the campaign's operating principle: as long as the possibility is not zero, hope stays on the table.