The Last Of Us Star Lands Major Role In Godzilla Minus Zero Director's Next Movie

Published Oct 26, 2026, 6:46 PM EDT Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones, and also writes some features and reviews. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025. Sign in to your ScreenRant account This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.Godzilla Minus Zero director Takashi Yamazaki has found the lead stars for his new movie Grandgear. Yamazaki directed and wrote the critically acclaimed Godzilla Minus One, which has a near-perfect 99% critics' score and 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, along with grossing $116 million worldwide against a reported budget of $15 million. He returned to direct and write the sequel, Godzilla Minus Zero, which received stellar first reactions and debuted to a 96% critics' score ahead of coming to North American theaters on November 6 and to Japan on November 3. According to Deadline, Nico Parker (The Last of Us, How to Train Your Dragon) and Sam Nivola (The White Lotus) have been cast in the lead roles for Yamazaki's Grandgear, his first studio movie that is coming out in the aftermath of Godzilla Minus Zero. Paul Giamatti is also in negotiations to join the film. All plot details are under wraps and the movie is expected to begin filming in 2027. While Giamatti was reportedly one of the top picks for his role, the lead characters were cast after an extensive search, ultimately leading to a chemistry test for Parker and Nivola. Yamazaki is directing and he wrote the screenplay. The project is being produced by Bad Robot's J.J. Abrams and Glen Zipper. Parker plays Sarah Miller, the daughter of Pedro Pascal's Joel Miller in HBO Max's hit series The Last of Us. While she is not in most of the series, Sarah is a major focus of the first episode, continues to have a major influence on Joel throughout the rest of the show, and received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Parker also plays Astrid in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon movie and its upcoming sequel, along with Milly Farrier in Disney's 2019 live-action remake of Dumbo. As for Nivola, he plays Lochlan Ratliff in HBO Max's The White Lotus season 3, for which he and the cast received an Actor Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Miniseries. Other prominent roles include Will Winbury in Netflix's mystery drama miniseries The Perfect Couple, Alexander Bernstein in Bradley Cooper's Academy-Award nominated movie Maestro, and he plays Sonny in Hulu's new Connie Britton-led series Phony. More to come... Release Date January 14, 2028 Director Takashi Yamazaki Writers Takashi Yamazaki Producers J.J. Abrams