Toho is making their own Godzilla movies again!

[Kai "the spy"]

Well, one, at least, but knowing Toho, this will just kick off the new series of annual movies, independent of the Hollywood movies, of course.

Production will start in summer 2015 for a 2016 release in Japanese theatres.

Details on cast and crew to follow.

Kotaku| Japan Is Making a New Godzilla Movie

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Godzilla......ugh.

 

[Saul]

The last one they made 'Final Wars', sucked really really hard.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

^^And it bombed heavily in Japanese theatres. I doubt that Toho will go in that direction again.

 

[Christopher]

This is good news. I'd been afraid that a successful US Godzilla franchise would preempt any further Toho movies, since they couldn't compete with US budgets/FX. I'm glad they're going ahead anyway.

Interesting... Last time, Toho was prompted to start a new film series by the failure of the '98 American movie. (They were going to let TriStar do a trilogy, then resume their own series for the 50th anniversary in 2004; instead, they started the Millennium series in '99 and it ended in '04.) This time, they were prompted to start a new series by the success of the American movie.

 

[Redfern]

The last one they made 'Final Wars', sucked really really hard.

I got the impression that film was, in effect, a re-imagining of 1968's "Destroy All Monsters".

Not the film I would have preferred for the 50th anniversary...yeah, like I have any say so in these things.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[DWF]

I liked Godzilla: Final Wars and really with the start of the Legendary movies I thought we'd seen the end of Toho's version.

 

[Saga]

i liked Final Wars too. it was fun. how could you hate a film where Godzilla beats Zilla in seconds?

 

[Christopher]

I can hate it because Minya is in it. And because it's not really a Godzilla movie, it's "The Power Rangers enter the Matrix on Independence Day, guest-starring Godzilla."

It does have its moments, though. I love the over-the-top, hammy villain, and I love the totally deadpan American captain who sounds like Scruffy from Futurama. I love how they turned the performer's complete lack of acting ability into an asset by making his character completely unflappable.

 

[JRoss]

Final Wars showed how great something can be with the correct amount of camp. Lots of fun fights, the return of King Shisa, Gigan finally gets to shoot his eye beam and Keizer Ghidora. It wasn't on the same level as GMK, but it was really fun to watch. And yeah, that American captain was the best part of the humans. Might have done with fewer human scenes, but they were good when they were funny.

 

[The Lensman]

The main thing I remember from Final Wars was the apparent total collapse of human civilization, but everyone smiling and waving as Godzilla leaves. Or something close to that.

 

[bigdaddy]

Final Wars was Power Rangers with Godzilla in the background, aka shit.

They are just riding on the popularity of the American one, but I'm fine with that. When the American one came out in 1998 I'm pretty sure they continued to make the Japanese ones.

 

[Saul]

i liked Final Wars too. it was fun. how could you hate a film where Godzilla beats Zilla in seconds?

Very, very easily. Sharknado is Citizen Kane next to this steaming pile of shit.

 

[Christopher]

When the American one came out in 1998 I'm pretty sure they continued to make the Japanese ones.

As I mentioned above, Toho's plan was to keep the Godzilla series on hiatus (it had been dormant since 1994) until TriStar completed a trilogy, and then resume making their own Godzilla films in 2004. But since the 1998 TriStar movie bombed, Toho resumed their own movies in 1999.

 

[Goji]

So, how long do we think it'll be before they're remaking Godzilla vs. Mothra and Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla again? Hell, last time they did both in the same movie.

 

[Christopher]

Maybe this time they'll do MechaMothra...?

 

[DWF]

It's kind of cool that Toho's version will be returning before the Legendary version. But I have to wonder if this movie will have a more Hollywood look to the post production since it appears as though it'll have a longer post production time.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

In related news, former SFX director and producer of several Godzilla movies Koichi Kawakita passed away earlier this month.

TohoKingdom| Koichi Kawakita: 1942-2014

 

[DWF]

In related news, former SFX director and producer of several Godzilla movies Koichi Kawakita passed away earlier this month.

TohoKingdom| Koichi Kawakita: 1942-2014

He rewrote Godzilla VS Biollante so he wasn't just a visual effects man, He certainlly had an impact on Godzilla.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

About time there was some news on the new Toho movie.

Toho enlisted some high-profile filmmakers. Hideaki Anno, director of the "Neon Genesis Evangelion" anime series, will write the script, and co-direct with Shinji Higuchi, who was responsible for the SFX of the 90s "Gamera" trilogy and directed the upcoming live-action "Attack on Titan" two-part movie.

CBR| Toho's New 'Godzilla' Recruits 'Evangelion' and 'Attack on Titan' Directors