Japan won’t let its baby get all the attention in the West and instead will re-ignite the tradition and bring back Godzilla to their shores. Toho will once again start production of its first Godzilla film in 12 years. That is a long time since Godzilla Final Wars but seeing as Gareth Edwards’s recent entry of the titular monster brought in a fresh wave of fame and fans, it’s surely the right moment.
The new Japanese Godzilla movie will not enjoy a big budget as his American counterpart did as producer Taichi Ueda said that “the time has come for Japan to make a film that will not lose to Hollywood.” Clearly, Godzilla is now a long standing symbol for the Japanese ever since the monster debuted in 1954. The veteran producer added that Toho hopes to make Godzilla something that “will represent Japan and be loved around the world” until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Well, they actually nailed the last part. Godzilla is loved by the whole world but maybe they are refering to a pure Toho made Godzilla and not a mish mash of both culture interpretations. This idea of reviving the legendary monster has spunned a committee of studio executives and directors called Godzi- Con (Godzilla Strategic Conference)whose sole purpose is to manage the Godzilla brand from this point forward.
Toho and Warner Bros. Japan distributed Gareth Edward’s Godzilla earning 26 million dollars in Japan and 525 million worldwide. Information about the director and the cast are not available at this time though other efforts are underway in order to get the populace into the kaiju mood. Toho wants to have a giant Godzilla statue built in its Toho Cinemas Shinjuku by April 2015. On the western front, Gareth Edwards is set to helm Godzilla 2 with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. to co-produce. The American Godzilla will premiere on June 8. 2018 while the Japanese Godzilla will arrive a little sooner, with producing set to 2015 and 2016 being its premiere date. It would have been interesting to see how these two versions of the classic monster would stand out if they had premiered at the same time. Though one thing we’ll get from both and that is some guaranteed monster action.