As I eagerly await the next entry into Legendary’s monsterverse, Godzilla: King of the Monsters (due out March of 2019), I am itching for any news concerning everyone’s favorite radioactive monster Godzilla. Here in the United States, we know we have the aforementioned Godzilla movie hitting theaters, but we are also getting Godzilla vs Kong in 2020, pitting the two legendary monsters against each other for the first time since 1962. While there is plenty there to get excited about, even more exciting is that Japanese film company, Toho, has announced that they are working on their own kaiju (monster) cinematic universe!
The Chief Godzilla Officer (yes, that’s really his title) at Toho, Keiji Ota, made the announcement in an interview with Japanese media outlet Nikkei Style earlier this week. The deal Toho struck with Legendary and Warner Bros. keeps Toho from producing anything new until at least 2021, but they seem to have started planning what will come next.
After 2021, we’re thinking of a potential strategy that [releases] Godzilla movies uninterrupted at a rate of every 2 years, although there is a preference for a yearly pace as well. The future of the series and its forwarding developments are very conscious of the method of “shared universe”. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, etc. could all share a single world view much like a Marvel movie where Iron Man and the Hulk can crossover with each other.
Some viewers will worry about producing movies at that rate, but I don’t believe you have to sacrifice quality in favor of quantity. As a die hard G-fan, it is incredibly exciting to see that Godzilla and his friends will continue an even longer cinematic life. I’d love to see some updated versions of some of the hokier Godzilla films from the 1960’s and 1970’s, as well as perhaps some new allies and foes. The announcement also seems to open the door for movies based on Toho kaiju NOT named Godzilla. Seeing King Ghidorah get his own movie would be awesome.
Continuing, Ota revealed that there are no plans to do a sequel to the wildly successful Shin Godzilla, which is Toho’s most recent G flick.
Shin Godzilla was a huge hit, but instead of thinking of doing the obvious idea of making a Shin Godzilla 2, instead think about a world that can be used for a long time. I’d rather make a World of Godzilla.
While I really enjoyed Shin Godzilla, the idea of there not being a sequel doesn’t bother me, as long as we get to see the monster at some point in the future. Perhaps Toho and Toei will be able to work some magic and give the kaiju fans something they’ve wanted for a long time, Godzilla vs Gamera!
*Thanks to Gormaru Island for the translation
