Feel the rumble as one of the most iconic monsters stomps its way online with the global launch of the first-ever official Godzilla website from Japanese entertainment studio Toho Co., in time for the highly anticipated film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters releasing on May 31.
Commemorating the 65th anniversary of its screen debut in 1954, Toho is connecting Godzilla fans around the world of all ages through exciting content from more than 30 films, comics, art, apparel, toys, encompassing the entire Godzilla universe.
“We’re thrilled to unleash a world of content around our most beloved Godzilla,” said Keiji Ota, CGO (Chief Godzilla Officer) at Toho. “Fans have been longing for a universe that celebrates the all-mighty king of monsters and Godzilla.com delivers the most exciting news and stories about upcoming events, new merchandise and special releases as we commemorate the 65th anniversary of Godzilla.”
One of the most exciting features is the first official Godzilla Monsterpedia, unveiling everything fans have ever wanted to know about monsters (or kaiju) in the Godzilla Universe! Monsters such as King Ghidorah, the three-headed monster and Godzilla’s biggest rival; Mothra, the guardian god of its maternal island; and MechaGodzilla, the giant battle robot modeled on Godzilla are featured. The battles among them and with humans are one of the highlights of the Godzilla movies. The more fans get to know about the kaiju, the more they can enjoy the exciting world of Godzilla.
Godzilla.com will be continuously updated as a source of news for upcoming Godzilla films including movie trailers and key art, events, fan content, new product news, and all future announcements. It will also be a resource for Godzilla’s complete filmography including rare videos, wallpaper and much more destructive content including updates on epic Godzilla toys, apparel and lifestyle products.
Godzilla first appeared in Toho’s “Godzilla” (1954), a classic monster movie widely regarded as a masterpiece. The work launched a monster franchise that expanded over 64 years with more than 30 films. Over time, the franchise itself has evolved, as Godzilla and other creatures appearing in Godzilla films have become a metaphor for social commentary in the real world. The characters are no longer mere entertainment icons but embody emotions and social problems of the times. Godzilla has become a globally recognized icon, finding its way into worldwide pop culture and influencing many creative minds.”*
Michael Dougherty, director of the anticipated kaiju monster fest Godzilla: King of the Monsters, is already thinking sequel, and has two kaiju in mind for the "Big Bads."
Dougherty told CinemaToday JP he would like to use Biollante and Gigan in a sequel to Godzilla: King of the Monsters. The GORMARU Twitter account posted an excerpt of Dougherty's answer accompanied by a GIF of the menacing plant creature Biollante.
"I wanted to do it, but if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would have Biollante. Oh, and Gigan!" - Micheal Dougherty states in CinemaToday JP interview regarding #godzillakingofmonsters after saying how GvB made feel stronger in respecting nature. ^_^ #Godzillapic.twitter.com/qCNdOBWnrr
Dougherty's hands are more than full with Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah in King of the Monsters, which is a pleasing enough roster as it is. However, Biollante and Gigan are two more prized and promising fan-favorites diehard fans have been waiting years to see make a comeback on the big screen.
Biollante is perhaps the most famous nemesis of Godzilla to appear in only one movie. Debuting in Godzilla vs. Biollante, a sequel to Godzilla 1984, Biollante is the product of an experiment combining Godzilla's DNA with that of a plant and a scientist's dead daughter. Bigger than the big guy and able to disperse and reform from a cloud of spores, Biollante is one of the few creatures to fight the G-Man to a standstill and leave him reeling from a near-fatal blow.
The verdant kaiju's lone appearance is also famous for its message about man manipulating nature, a major theme in Legendary's Monsterverse, and a moral lesson that had an impact on Dougherty, referenced by GORMAUR. "GvB made [sic] feel stronger in respecting nature."
Gigan's had more screentime, appearing in Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla: Final Wars, and is probably more popular than Biollante since it got to return for another round against Toho's mighty creation. His fearsome blades and hooks made Godzilla bleed in the past, which no one is soon to forget.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, O'Shea Jackson Jr., the returning Ken Watanabe, and Bradley Whitford. Directed, of course, by Michael Dougherty, it is slated to hit theaters May 31.
Above, the Godzilla mural at Toho Studios in Setagaya. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
The King of the Monsters was honored by NASA and astronomy researchers with a constellation name.
NHK reported:
An international team of researchers has given the name Godzilla to one of what it calls the modern constellations. The monster is among the most popular film characters created in Japan.
The team, made up of US space agency NASA and worldwide astronomy researchers, announced 21 new gamma-ray "constellations" to mark the 10th year of operations of its Fermi satellite for astronomical observation.
The constellation was named "Godzilla" due to the "monster's trademark heat ray bears a resemblance to gamma-ray jets associated with black holes and neutron stars."
Beware! Multi-colored aliens have come to Earth with a giant drill-nosed robot to mate with our women and buy up all of our real estate.
The Mysterians is a 1957 Japanese science fiction film directed by Ishirō Honda and stars Kenji Sahara, Yumi Shirakawa and Takashi Shimura. The film begins with a giant fissure destroying an entire village. This leads to an investigation whereby the source is discovered to be Moguera, a giant robot, who is then destroyed by the military. The remains are analyzed and discovered to be of alien origin. Shortly after, an alien race known as the Mysterians arrive, declaring they have taken some Earth women captive and that they demand both land and the right to marry women of Earth.
For The Mysterians, producer Tomoyuki Tanaka recruited Jojiro Okami, a science fiction writer, to develop the story. Honda later elaborated that he wanted the film to differ from both Godzilla and Rodan and to make it more of a "true science fiction film," one to promote peace and understanding between cultures. The film was popular upon its release in Japan, where it was among the top ten grossing domestic productions of the year. Contemporary reviews from Western critics in the Monthly Film Bulletin and Variety praised the special effect work but criticized the plot as confusing and juvenile, respectively. - Wiki
At the end of the English-language US version, the last Mysterian saucer is seen ascending into the upper atmosphere. In the original Japanese-language version, this is revealed, through dialog, to actually be an Earth satellite that is launched to monitor the Mysterians and prevent a future attack.
This was one of the first Japanese productions to be shot in anamorphic widescreen. Tôhô Kabushiki Kaisha, which called its anamorphic process TôhôScope, specifically made this film to show off the new process. Part of Akira Ifukube's battle score was used on the TôhôScope logo, which appeared at the beginning of the Japanese-language prints.
The USA premiere of the Mysterians, Aka Chikyû Bôeigun (tôhô, 1957) was on October 30, 1958, at the United Artists Theater in downtown Inglewood, California. A giant 6-foot-tall cardboard standee poster of Mogera was placed outside of the theater, facing the street. It was released by RKO and Warner Bros. for that release, then MGM re-released it again in May 1959. It is available on VHS, Laserdisc from Tôhô, and on DVD from Tokyo Shock, 2005. The reissue DVD has a re-recorded English-language soundtrack with new voice actors and is not the original 1958 USA release soundtrack that had Paul Frees as the voice of actor Takashi Shimura, who played the veteran scientist Dr. Tanjiro Adachi, as he also did for this actor in voiceover work in Godzilla: King of the Monsters (1956) and Mosura (mothra) (1961).
The Mogera suit, originally worn by Haruo Nakajima, was, after filming, kept in storage in one of Tôhô's visual effects sound stages until 1974, when it was destroyed in a fire on the lot, caused by a pyrotechnical accident during the filming of Nosutoradamusu no daiyogen (1974).
In the original Japanese-language version, the aliens are called Mysterians (rendered in katakana as Misuterian). When he visited the United States, special-effects director Eiji Tsuburaya was surprised to discover that the term Mysterians was well-known. It had also been used in the English-language dubbing, and the film had even been released in the United States under the title "The Mysterians."
Mogera, the giant robot that was added to the film, was created to be a Godzilla-like mechanical monster, including spines along the back and a large tail. In the final edit of the film, most of the selected shots hide the fact that the robot does have a tail.
An early concept of Mogera was of a four-footed mecha, more along the lines of a mole. The name Mogera was based on the Japanese word for mole ("mogura"), which was not in the original script, but was added at the insistence of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, who felt the movie needed a giant monster.
Japan's Self-Defense Forces gave assistance to this production and allowed the filming of military equipment and personnel. Through them, the production was also allowed to shoot TôhôScope-wide footage, especially of military aircraft, at United States Military installations in Japan. - IMDB
In the late 1980s long time Godzilla movie fan and music video producer Mick Anger developed a sequel to The Mysterians. The film featured Godzilla (Of Course) taking on the horny aliens and their giant Mogera robot. According to sources the film actually went through eighteen months of development before producer Tomoyuki Tanaka pulled the plug. Apparently Toho wasn't ready for an American to helm a Godzilla movie.
Here is a outline for the story:
"The story of GODZILLA Vs. THE MYSTERIANS involved a rogue faction of the aliens from the original 1957 flick, setting up shop under the Nevada Desert. Over the years the Mysterians conducted experiments on the local flora and fauna in their labs to try ,and combat the conundrum of their race's sterility. The results were a menagerie of genetic, and cybernetic abominations that brought them no closer to their goals of correcting their sterility. The mightiest of which, Hira-Jin, part-man, part-Gila Monster, part human.
The Mysterians hit upon the idea that Godzilla's unique biology might be the key to the answers they seek. So a ship is dispatched to Monster Island to capture the King of the Monsters. The mission is successful, Godzilla is captured ,and brought back to the base. Unfortunately, drawn into the affair are Anguirus and Rodan who track Godzilla to the Mysterians' base in the Nevada desert, which takes them through Las Vegas. The Mysterians unleash Hira-Jin against the kaiju, and large tracks of Vegas end up devastated in the resulting battle." - Toho Kingdom
Wow there is a lot to process there. I think that if you took out the half-human-half-gila monster thing you may have had something ... maybe.
Many fans never knew that the close up shots of Godzilla in the early days was a hand puppet. Likewise Mothra, Manda, Kumonga and Kamacuras were also puppets. As a whole Eiji Tsuburaya and his special effects crew had to come up with all kinds of creative ways to portray their famous monsters due to both time limits and budget constraints.
The SYFY Wire recently published a great article about how puppets were effectively used in the Godzilla movie series:
The Japanese monster movie (kaiju eiga) is known — and frequently scoffed at — for its signature technique of suitmation: placing a stuntman inside an enormous rubber costume and turning him loose on an intricately detailed miniature cityscape.
It is important to note, however, that while this has been the go-to method for many decades, Japanese special effects artists have never shied away from using other techniques to bring their visions to life. Due to the physical limitations of suitmation, kaiju eiga filmmakers frequently supplement CGI, animatronics, separate props for feet and tails, very limited use of stop-motion animation, and even puppets to make their creatures all the more expressive on the silver screen.
Going all the way back to the original Godzilla (1954), one of the drawbacks of suitmation was inherently restricted movement in the head and neck areas. The monster costume constructed by Eizo Kaimi and Yagi brothers Kanji and Koei had been designed in a way so that the stuntman’s head would be positioned inside Godzilla’s neck — giving the creature a more inhuman shape as well as permitting the actor inside some limited visibility and ventilation through tiny holes in the throat.
The negative consequence of this design choice, however, was that the costume's neck was quite stiff — practically immobile — and thus making it difficult for Godzilla to perform actions such as snapping his jaws, an important tool in his assault toolkit. Not to mention, he could hardly turn his head without turning his entire body at the same time. The staff wanted this first iteration of Godzilla to exhibit violent, animalistic behavior, so a secondary technique would be required.
Nakajima endured wearing that 200-pound costume for the entire filming of "Gojira". Though other actors were cast to play the monster, only Nakajima could tolerate the costume, long working hours and awful filming conditions.
The filming for "Gojira" took place in the summer of 1954, which would be one of the hottest on record in Japan. Since the stages at Toho had no air conditioning and because Nakajima had to wear that heavy costume, the production was moved from a normal shooting during the day to a five pm to five am schedule. According to the actor "The crew often times said that the shooting schedule was the real Gojira (Monster)."
Let's get back to the SYFY piece:
To counter the problem, a half-body puppet was assembled. Built at a much smaller scale and used primarily in close-ups, its head and neck could be operated by hand, providing much more expressive movement than what was attainable with the suit. Now Godzilla could tilt his head in various directions as well as seize objects with his mouth. (In addition, the arms were electronically controlled with cables, helping maintain the illusion of a living creature.)
Semblance to the suit was spotty at best, but the puppet was nonetheless capable of performing actions the staff wanted, such as Godzilla lunging at the Hattori Clock Tower, biting train cars, and tearing down the NTV tower with his teeth. Under Koichi Kawakita's supervision in the 1990s, Godzilla costumes garnered internal mechanisms permitting limited head movement (tilting and swiveling), but in the beginning, filmmakers depended on ingenuity with secondary techniques to make up for the physical shortcomings of suitmation.
The 1954 puppet also came in handy when depicting Godzilla’s signature atomic breath. As the schedule did not permit sufficient time to fully animate every instance of the breath on film, all close-ups of this fiery weapon were accomplished with a water nozzle installed in the puppet's mouth. When enhanced with proper lighting, Godzilla appeared to be spitting a white-hot, explosive vapor.
Many films —and many monsters — have come since the original Godzilla, oftentimes retaining the supplement of partial-body puppets for close-ups, though the staff frequently expanded their efforts to include full-body props.
For instance, some shots of Rodan in Ghidorah the Three-headed Monster (1964) were pulled off with a puppet that was equipped with motorized wing movement. This allowed more convincing flapping motions than what could be achieved with a costumed actor and piano wires hooked to the wings. More recent films such as Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999) and Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) occasionally resort to puppetry for tight shots of monsters gnawing and biting, reducing the chances of damaging the more elaborate (and expensive) suits.
Let me interject here. Not only was it expensive, it was down right dangerous as well. Here is an excerpt from my article that mentions a couple of times when suit actor Haruo Nakajima was injured:
As the years kept coming so did the monster roles for Nakajima. Next came "Rodan" then "Varan" and then "Mothra". The filming was long, hard and very dangerous. Nakajima admits that he was injured in some way or another on every single production. On the set of "Varan" the actor was hurt very seriously when a miniature building blew up underneath him. Despite being in severe pain he never let anyone know about it, "I felt like I could have gone to the hospital, but I knew if I had to go then the crew would have to go home, and not get payed for the time, so I stuck it out."
Likewise on the set of "Rodan" a cable snapped while Nakajima was inside the monster's costume suspended some 10-meters above the sound stage, "The cable broke and I began to spin wildly before the whole thing gave way and I came crashing to the ground. Luckily the costume had wings and I landed in the water which protected me."
Tsuburaya was very pleased to see that Nakajima was okay stating, "I'm glad that you didn't die."
The SYFY article concludes:
Puppets also prove useful in aiding forced perspective. In Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964), for instance, distant shots of Godzilla moving across the landscape were shot with a puppet. As it was about half as tall as a person, it helped forge the illusion that Godzilla was extremely far away when placed toward the far reaches of the set—something which wouldn’t have worked as well with the man-sized suit. The climax of Destroy All Monsters (1968) employed tiny duplicates of Manda, Baragon, Varan, etc. never meant to participate in the battle with King Ghidorah but simply to provide background motion while simultaneously aiding the illusion of distance.
But perhaps no other Japanese special effects artist has defined the wonders of wired puppetry as proficiently as Sadamasa Arikawa. A former cameraman for Tsuburaya, Arikawa more or less took over as Toho’s effects director in the mid-1960s, as his mentor began shifting focus to television projects at his own company. In terms of wire work, Arikawa’s magnum opus is Son of Godzilla (1967), with its assortment of giant praying mantises and a colossal spider, all portrayed with intricate marionettes. In particular, the giant arachnid Kumonga steals the show, its eight jointed legs in constant motion (each leg operated by multiple puppeteers perched in rafters above the set).
Another standout moment in Arikawa’s résumé is the serpent-like Manda (also a marionette) wrapping its coils around a monorail bridge in Destroy All Monsters (1968) before crushing the structure under its might. Scenes such as this required Arikawa and his crew to test their ingenuity. The usual overhead wires would only handle part of the task, so in order to get Manda to crawl over and underneath and then back around the bridge, the puppet was rigged to several wires, the various directions (above, sideways, etc.) changing according to the shot. Edited together, the results are absolutely astonishing.
Above, Jonathan Bellés with the Toho Studios Godzilla statue. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Documentary producer Jonathan Bellés has a new trailer on his documentary, The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga, that will be available July 1. He has been working on this documentary since 2014.
Discover the new documentary film about Godzilla, The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga created by Spanish film director Jonathan Bellés who will introduce us to the origin of this legend who will introduce us to the origin of this legend. It’s connections with the Atomic Bomb and the Nuclear Threat are well known, but how has this affected for more than 60 years of Godzilla movies? This documentary film discovers this story through interviews with more than 20 Japanese artists that have worked on the Godzilla movies from 1954 until now. Some of these faces are Akira Takarada, Haruo Nakajima, Akira Kubo, Yukiko Kobayashi, Shusuke Kaneko, Kenpachiro Satsuma, Koichi Kawakita, Ishii Yoshikatzu, Shinji Higuchi among others. Follow us on @Dawnofkaiju and www.451prods.com.
This trailer is available with English, Spanish and French subtitles.
Above, special effects director Eiichi Asada is interviewed for the documentary at Toho Studios. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
For the website for The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga, go here.
Toho be rebooting their famed monster films in 2021 including new Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan movies connected in very much the same way as the Marvel superhero universe.
Thankfully this won't include a sequel to the horrible "Shin-Godzilla"!
From Geek Tyrant
While talking to the Japanese outlet Nikkei Style, Keiji Ota, the “Chief Godzilla Officer” at Toho talked about the future of the franchise saying:
"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."
He then went on to compare their plans to the MCU, because they actually managed to pull off the whole shared universe concept effectively.
"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. It is said that each movie can be a possible film production where any one of them could lead a film of their own as the titular character."
I really do love this idea. The old Godzilla movies seemed to share the same universe as they were always building "team up" and "versus" movies, so why not rebuild that in a new and very cool way!? However, I do wish that Shin Godzilla would get a sequel! Ota makes it very clear, though, that it’s not going to happen:
“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.”
Hopefully, they Bring on a talented team of people to build this Godzilla Cinematic Universe. There’s a lot of cool stuff to play with in this world with and some awesome characters so I hope that Toho ends up giving us something epic.
Above, yours truly with the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios in 2010.
The closest I've ever gotten to a human-sized Godzilla was when I saw several filming & event suits. and the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios over the years.
Now, "true" Godzilla fans can own a human-sized Godzilla figure of their very own. The only problem is coming up with the money to buy one and where to put it. Otaku USA has an article on the Godzilla figure.
They begin with:
Are you a Godzilla fan?
Okay, cool. But are you a big enough Godzilla fan to buy an incredibly expensive, human-size Godzilla figure?
Yeah, me neither.
First of all, I’m not sure where exactly I would put it, but more importantly, check out that price tag: ¥4,482,000. Four-point-four million yen. In U.S. dollars, that’s about $43,000 smackeroos.
The figures are from Bandai and they are part of a new toy line called the Human Size Project. If some G-fan wants one, they'd probably better hurry up as the production run is limited to ten (10) figures and they stand 6' 3".
Review of Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence) by Armand Vaquer.
Above, this shot of Pete Brothers may reflect our
feelings of Shin Godzilla. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
UPDATE (10/18/16): I viewed the movie again last Saturday and have posted a 2nd review. To view it, gohere.
October 12 on my calendar was originally going to be the day that my Small Claims Court case against my ex-fiancee would have been heard, had we not gone on Hot Bench last month instead. After seeing Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence) last night, something tells me that an appearance in Small Claims Court would have been much more entertaining.
Above, the Shin Godzilla poster at the theater. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Above, the entrance to the auditorium. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Peter H. Brothers and I met up at the Muvico Thousand Oaks 14 theaters to see the movie. Before going inside the auditorium, I perused a collection of Star Wars figures by Sideshow Collectibles in the theater lobby. Surprisingly, we were joined by Brant Elliott, who also happened to attend this screening and bought a ticket for the seat next to Pete. I hadn't seen Brant in years and it was a nice reunion.
Above, Brant Elliott and Peter H. Brothers. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
I purposely avoided reading any fan reviews of Shin Godzilla so I could make up my own mind about the film and to avoid any spoilers.
Some fans said the movie was "different" and "interesting". Yes, I have to agree to both adjectives. "Entertaining" is not an adjective that I would bestow upon it, however. It started with a lot of promise, but was a disaster soon after.
Above, Pete Brothers and Armand at the bar following the movie. Photo by Brant Elliott.
For starters, the movie was about 95% talk-talk-talk-talk-talk-talk-talk by bureaucrats of various ministries of the Japanese government on dealing with the situation of Godzilla. That is fine to poke fun at the farcical ways the machinery of government operates, particularly the Japanese way of "governing by committee". But to make that 95% of the movie was overkill at its worst.
Above, Han Solo in carbonite in the theater lobby by Sideshow Collectibles. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Next, the editing and structure of the movie was horrendous. Scenes were constantly jumping from one bureaucrat to another, with a little Godzilla thrown in on occasion. That was tiring! There was no continuity to the movie and there were no likable characters. There was no real storytelling. It almost makes Godzilla Final Wars (2004) a masterpiece of cinema in comparison (and I liked that movie)! It was a mess! Hideaki Anno, who directed the movie, may be a good anime director, but he completely ruined the Toho Godzilla's return.
The only redeeming feature of the movie are the special effects by Shinji Higuchi. They were inspired and innovative at times (I loved the scenes of boats being shoved aside on a river by a submerged Godzilla, which in his "early form", resembled a plucked Thanksgiving turkey). Those scenes reminded me of the tsunami footage from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Still, while the special effects were great, there was not enough Godzilla in the movie.
While it was nice to hear some of Akira Ifukube's Godzilla themes, the film had no coherent score to speak of.
One has to wonder, "What was Toho thinking?" when they greenlighted this movie.
Above, Yoda in the theater lobby. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
This has to rank as the worst Godzilla movie ever. Even worse than the 1998 American fiasco! At least G.I.N.O. (as we fans call the 1998 Godzilla by Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin) had some storytelling to it.
I promised I'd take Jessica, my ex-roommate, to see it on Saturday. I guess I'll have to endure it again.
I very much wanted to enjoy the return of Toho's Godzilla, but this movie completely let me down.
Above, the Godzilla mural at Toho Studios in Setagaya. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
The box office numbers for Shin Godzilla in Japan are the best the giant beast has seen since the Heisei Series (or Series 2) of the 1990s. Godzilla is well on the way to reclaiming his (or its) box office champion crown.
A new article on Godzilla by the Japan Times has been posted. They refer to the King of the Monsters as being in "middle age", which is nice, considering Godzilla and I both arrived on the scene in 1954. It is preferable than saying "old".
The article begins with:
Within one month of its July release, Toho’s “Shin Gojira” (“Godzilla Resurgence”) attracted more than 3.6 million viewers. Box-office takings are already estimated to have surpassed ¥5.3 billion, putting the film more than halfway toward the seldom-attained figure of ¥10 billion. Toho has great expectations it will eclipse the success of “Bayside Shakedown,” the film spinoff of Fuji TV’s series, and reestablish the “King of the Monsters” as the top domestic film earner.
That’s all pretty impressive, considering this is the 29th Godzilla film produced by Toho since its smashing debut 62 years ago. What’s more, the series’ basic plot is so simple, it can be digested into a 17-syllable haiku, thus:
Godzilla attacks
Japanese scream and panic
Please pass the popcorn
But, wait! There's a lot more in the article that fans won't want to miss reading!
Above, Godzilla in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Since Toho Studios in the Setagaya district of Tokyo is a 100% working studio with no rides, tours or attractions (except for the Godzilla and Seven Samurai murals and the Godzilla statue, what would be the next best thing?
According to Malay Mail Online:
TOKYO, Aug 2 — Universal Studios Japan has revealed an all-new, 4D attraction set to debut at next year’s “Universal Cool Japan 2017” event, which will bring the Japanese legend of “Godzilla” to life.
The Osaka-based resort revealed yesterday, August 1 that it will debut the multi-sensory experience “Godzilla: The Real 4D” early next year (at a date to be announced later), while the Universal Cool Japan 2017 event kicks off January 13, 2017.
The attraction, based on the hit franchise, will see guests personally confront a giant, 118.5-meter-tall “Godzilla” rampaging through the city.
Above, the Godzilla mural at Toho Studios will be included in the new edition. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Things are progressing on the new, updated edition of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan.
I have selected the publishing program, the publisher and most of it is written. I am waiting, at present, for more information on the new Toho Pictures production of Shin Godzilla (to be called Godzilla Resurgence outside of Japan). Also, I am trying to decide on what photograph to use on the cover. Maybe I'll post a poll or survey of some kind involving Godzilla fans to see what photo they like.
Above, the life-size Godzilla in Shinjuku will be also
included in the new edition. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
I have contacted director Shinji Higuchi for information on the locations and/or landmarks used in the movie so that they can be included. Fans would then be able to go to those places when they visit Japan.
Above, the dinner group at the Imperial Viking restaurant at the Imperial Hotel.
The Imperial Hotel, the one that Steve Martin (Raymond Burr) stayed at while in Tokyo (while there was still a Tokyo) during Godzilla's rampage, saw a group of power players at the hotel's Imperial Viking restaurant gather for a relaxed dinner.
Over the years, I have been treated to many a courtesy and assists by friends from Toho Co., Ltd. and I thought this trip would provide a good opportunity to host a thank-you dinner to return the favor and show my appreciation.
The Imperial Viking was chosen as it was able to accommodate dinner parties and I was seeking an elegant place to treat everyone. The restaurant is on the hotel's 17th floor and had commanding views of Hibiya Park, the Imperial Palace and the National Diet Building.
Above, the view of the lit-up National Diet Building from our table at the Imperial Viking restaurant. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Those joining Denise and I were Mr. G-FEST himself, Yoshikazu Ishii; former Toho L.A. General Managers Masaharu Ina (now with Toho Cinemas division) and Shozo Watanabe (now with Toho's legal division); former Toho Pictures President Shogo Tomiyama; translator and Tohoku documentary star at NHK World, Jessica Claros.
The conversation ranged from what everyone's doing today, remembering Koichi Kawakita, Shin Godzilla (now in production), Godzilla Final Wars, Japanese cuisine, Japan's beaches, Toho's Malibu estate (where Toho's general managers live during their tenures in Los Angeles), my fondness for cheesecake and many other subjects.
Above, the Godzilla mural at Toho Studios. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
by Armand Vaquer
It appears that Godzilla and King Kong will be reunited somewhere around 2020 (according to most reports).
At least, this is what an article at Huewire.com indicates, and it begins with:
Both the character, Godzilla and King Kong have an huge potential to be converted into a franchise together in one space.
The first film, “Kong: Skull Island” has an estimated budget of more than $25million, though Warner Bros. will also include it in a three-picture contract which also includes the proposed sequel and the crossover film.
The second installment is titled “Godzilla 2″, and it will hit the theatres on June. Both films feature the human Monarch organization.
The Legendary CEO, Thoman Tull and Warner Bros CEO, Kevin Tsujihara made the announcement and combined the epic monsters in a trilogy.
Who would you like to see appear in the trilogy alongside Godzilla and King Kong?
At the dinner party last Tuesday night, the subject of pairing Godzilla with King Kong came up. My Toho dinner guests couldn't say (it was essentially a "we don't know," but with big winks and grins that even George Reeves would envy), but the indicators are that the "rematch" is a definite "go".
Above, the cover to "Managing Godzilla" by Shogo Tomiyama. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Last Tuesday night, when I threw the little dinner party atop of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, several of my guests brought along gifts.
One of which was a book written by and published this year by former Toho Pictures President Shogo Tomiyama.
Above, the Imperial Hotel dinner group. Shogo Tomiyama is second from right.
Mr. Tomiyama brought an autographed copy of his book, "Managing Godzilla". It is in Japanese, but it is loaded with behind-the-scenes photographs from his years as producer (picking up the torch from Tomoyuki Tanaka) and president of Toho Pictures. This is a book that all Godzilla fans should include in their collections!
It contains 288 pages and is in paperback. Cover price: 2,300 yen.
Above, the autograph. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
It can be obtained through www.kadokawa.co.jp/. The ISBN is 978-4-04-869000-3.
At the dinner, I thumbed through the book and marveled at the photographs. I received a good laugh from the dinner group when I mentioned that even though the text is in Japanese, "the pictures are in English."
I had planned to bring along a copy of The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan for Mr. Tomiyama, but in the rush to get to the dinner, I forgot to bring it. I mailed a copy to Mr. Tomiyama the next day.
Toho today opens the official website for the upcoming new Godzilla film scheduled for Summer of 2016, announcing its official title Shin Godzilla and three main cast. It will be the first Japanese Godzilla film in 12 years since Ryuhei Kitamura's box office failure Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004.
The new film is co-directed by Hideaki Anno (Evangellion) as chief director and Shinji Higuchi (Heisei Gamera series, Attack on Titan) as director. Anno provides the screenplay and Higuchi also serves as special effects director. According to the executive producer Akihiro Yamaguchi, the "Shin" is named by Anno, and can stand for "新 (new)," "真 (true)," or "神 (god)." It is easy to point out the similarity with Anno's yet-released anime film Shin Evangelion, the final fourth chapter of the Rebuild film series.
While the details of its story is unknown, 38-year-old Hiromi Hasegawa and 44-year-old Yutaka Takenouchi are cast as government officials, and 28-year-old Satomi Ishihara plays an American agent. Both Hasegawa and Ishihara recently performed in Higuchi's two-part live-action film adaptation of the mega hit manga series Attack on Titan; Hasegawa portrayed an original character for the film, Shikishima, and Ishihara as Zoë Hange.
The visual of the new Godzilla is designed by Anno, and its size is expected to be the largest in the 60-year-old franchise, much bigger than the recent one appeared in the Gareth Edwards-directed American film in 2014, which was 108 meter tall. The shooting has already begun in August, and is scheduled to be finished by the end of October.
The film continues to be penciled in for a summer 2016 release through the Toho chain. And the company has launched a “Godzilla 2016” web page.
A video of “Godzilla 2016” extras running through the streets near Tokyo’s Kamata Station on Sept. 6 as well as photos of another extra stampede at Yokohama’s Yokodai Station posted on Facebook on Sept. 13 have been credited to Gomaru Island, a community of monster movie fans tracking the film’s production.
The movie was green-lighted by the company in December last year in response to the global success of the Gareth Evans directed Hollywood version, which has also gone into sequel for Warner Bros. At the time, Toho producer Taichi Ueda, told the press “the time has come for Japan to make a film that will not lose to Hollywood.”
Later, in April, Toho announced that Hideaki Anno, best known for his work on the “Evangelion” animation franchise, and Shinji Higuchi, an effects movie specialist responsible for this year’s “Attack on Titan” apocalyptic fantasy duology, would co-direct “Godzilla 2016,” with Anno writing the script.
Since then Toho has been tight-lipped with details, with the film’s PR rep currently unavailable for comment. But in an August interview with the AP news service, Higuchi said that for “Godzilla 2016” he would use the ‘hybrid’ techniques he developed for the two “Attack on Titan” films, in which ‘Titans’ — actors filmed with CGI enhancement as towering humanoid monsters — break through a gap in a huge wall enclosing a human settlement and begin devouring the inhabitants.
Unfortunately for Higuchi the first “Attack on Titan” film, released on Aug. 1, was savaged by critics, while performing below Toho’s sky-high expectations at the box office. It is now look likely to finish near the $25 million mark, compared to initial projections of $40 million or more. The second film will appear in theaters on Sept. 19.
World Premiere to Be Held July 14, 2015 at Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, CA
FUNimation Entertainment is proud to announce today its distribution of the theatrical, home entertainment, video on demand and broadcast rights to the upcoming Japanese live-action feature film "Attack on Titan" across the Americas (North America, Central America and South America). The film will be released by Toho Co. Ltd. in two parts in Japan on August 1 and September 19, 2015. Series creator Hajime Isayama worked directly with the film's producers to create the screen adaptation.
"Attack on Titan" is based on the popular manga series of the same name ("Shingeki no Kyojin" in Japanese), which tells the story of a world where most of humanity has been destroyed by giants and where the last of mankind fights to survive behind three concentric walls – walls that were once impenetrable to the giants. With more than 50 million copies in print today, "Attack on Titan" has also inspired four spin-off manga as well as a 25-episode anime series which FUNimation both simulcast and released to home video in North America.
"Attack on Titan" director Shinji Higuchi will be making a special appearance at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) for an autograph session with fans on Sunday, July 12, at 1:00 p.m. PST at FUNimation's booth (#4135). Following SDCC, FUNimation Entertainment and Toho Co. Ltd. will host the world premiere of "Attack on Titan" (Part 1; in Japanese w/ English subtitles) at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday, July 14. The SDCC special appearance and premiere are being held to promote the August 1 release of part 1 of the film in Japan and will include a red carpet event featuring special guests – Haruma Miura and Kiko Mizuhara, who portray Eren and Mikasa in the movie respectively, along with director Shinji Higuchi.
"FUNimation is honored to host the world premiere of Attack on Titan here in the United States with Toho," said Gen Fukunaga, CEO and President of FUNimation Entertainment. "Attack on Titan is truly a worldwide phenomenon and we are excited to bring the live action movie to theaters across the Americas later this fall."
Invited guests to the premiere, including celebrities and media, will be among the first in the world to see "Attack on Titan." A limited number of tickets will be available to fans via FUNimation's social channels.
Top Japanese filmmakers Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi will team up to co-direct “Godzilla 2016”, the new Japanese version of the iconic Godzilla monster movie franchise.
The Toho studio, which licensed remake rights to Warner Bros. for the hit 2014 revival by director Gareth Edwards, produced the seemingly terminal “Godzilla: Final Wars” back in 2004.
But interest was revived by Edward’s 2014 “Godzilla,” which earned $525 million worldwide and JPY3.2 billion ($26 million) in Japan, with Toho and Warner Bros. Japan co-distributing.
“Ever since Hollywood announced that ‘Godzilla’ was to be resurrected, the expectation for another Japanese Godzilla grew. And if we were to newly produce, we looked into Japanese creators who were the most knowledgeable and who had the most passion for Godzilla” said Toho in a statement.
Anno will also be responsible for the screenplay while Higuchi will oversee the picture’s VFX.
The two directors previously collaborated on “God Warrior Appears in Tokyo.” “Their drive to take on such new challenges was exactly what we all had been inspired by,” said Toho.
Anno worked on the animation of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli-produced “Nausicaa in the Valley of Wind.” He later directed anime series including “Gunbuster,” “Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water” and the “Neon Genesis Evangelion” series for which he is best most known. He also curated a touring exhibition Tokusatsu — Special Effects Museum.
Higuchi also worked on the “Evangelion” series, before debuting as a feature director with “Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean” in 2005 and scoring a major hit with “The Sinking of Japan.”
Meanwhile, Edwards has been signed to make “Godzilla 2,” which is set for a June 8, 2018, bow, with Legendary and Warner Bros. again co-producing.
In total Toho has produced 28 Godzilla movies since 1954 when Ishiro Honda directed the first. Ryuhei Kitamura’s “Godzilla: Final Wars” earned a disappointing $12 million.
