Toho has been around for nearly a century, but their production of Godzilla Minus One (2023) shook the industry. With a budget of only $15 million (Hollywood spends 10x that), Toho crafted a period drama about post-war Japan that also featured a terrifying, aquatic lizard. It won the Oscar for Visual Effects and proved that authentic storytelling beats franchise fatigue.

In recent decades, the narrative has shifted from the "Big Five" studios to the rise of tech-driven production houses:

: The youngest of the majors (operating through Columbia Pictures), Sony utilizes its parent company's technological resources to stay at the forefront of the industry.