Monster Missing: Last seen in GODZILLA FINAL WARS, 2004.
SCOOP: It's big and it's terrible, and this incredible news broke just two hours ago in Japan and is spreading like wildfire across the world. And while I didn’t see this one coming, and some may think it could be a hoax, the announcement was published in the Japanese equivalent of the Wall Street Journal, Nikkei, the respected movie news website, Eiga.com, and Toho's official Godzilla website (can't get more official than that) — I've combined elements from several stories and the translations are my own:
Toho Company Ltd. will be producing an all-new Godzilla film to be released in 2016. This will be the first “Domestic Godzilla” in 12 years since GODZILLA FINAL WARS (2004). In a press release issued today, Toho announced they’ve launched the “Godzilla Conference” as an organization to discuss and decide a wide range of strategies for promoting the Big G, including, but not limited to motion pictures. The group has also been officially nicknamed, “Godzi-con” (or “Gojikon” in Japanese parlance).
Toho vice president and general manager, Satoshi Senda, announced the launch of Godzi-con. Senda was hired by Toho in 1974, working in the film sales and marketing department, and most recently, was in charge of the foreign sales department. With his fellow board of directors, two younger members of the company, having both worked with visual effects-heavy films, Minami Ichikawa (producer of 13 Assassins) will serve as Production Manager, and Taiji Ueda (producer of Trick: The Movie ~ Last Stage), who will oversee the group as Project Leader, the Big G’s future may be bright, indeed.
"With the success of the Hollywood version of GODZILLA, we decided on a new [domestic] production," said Mr. Ueda in today’s press statement. The new production will be handled by Toho, in-house. "The screenplay is currently in development and we plan to start shooting next summer. We cannot announce cast or staff selections at this time. And we’re still deliberating whether to bring Godzilla to life via CGI or man-in-suit,” said Mr. Ueda. "This resurrection will be the centerpiece for ’16, and this is the force of our words."
"The passionate voices of the fans clamored for a resurrection [of the Japanese Godzilla]. We will bring the monster back to Japan, with the high-quality we've given films like [Takashi Yamazaki's] PARASYTE (Kiseiju, 2014). By bringing together our collective know-how, which we’ve been striving for [over the last 12 years], we mustn't lose to Hollywood," he said with confidence.
The Godzi-con also announced that the Big G will also be looming over Tokyo's Kabukicho district. At the former site of the Shinjuku Koma Theater, demolished in 2009, a 12-meter (39-foot) high "Godzilla Head," made of fiberglass and concrete in his likeness from Takao Okawara’s GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1992), will be erected on the 8th floor terrance of the new Shinjuku Toho Building, a 31-floor business and theater complex currently under construction, to be unveiled on April 15th.
The head will weigh 80 tonnes and from the top of its crown to the street, from the 8th-floor terrance will be 52 meters (170-feet, around the height of the first Godzilla from 1954), thus becoming a new landmark in the Shinjuku Ward, visible from Shinjuku-Yasukuni Street. Adjacent to the Shinjuku Toho Building, will be the brand-new Hotel Gracery Shinjuku, opening on April 25th, which will be offering a pair of specially-designed "Godzilla Rooms" for its' guests.
Mr. Ueda noted that these are just the "first steps" in their new promotion of the Big G, so I guess we can revel in the fact that Godzilla's 60th Anniversary isn't over, it's just beginning!
Stay tuned for more news as it breaks… Titanic thanks to master kaiju illustrator par excellence, Yuji Kaida, for tipping me off to the news!
9 comments:
(clenches fist in victory gesture)
Indeed, Bunche! Indeed!
wow reddit, you did it, proof.
Man in suit! CGI is for the weak!
I had hoped we'd see a new Toho movie after the success of the Legendary film. Huzzah!
SUITMATION
What debate is there to be had? Why brandy about grandiose statements about taking on Hollywood and it's filthy, disgusting abominations and then decide to do exactly the same thing as them? To make a "Godzilla" movie inside of a computer rather than in real life, that's just as evil as what the mega-corps are doing. What's the point? Why bother? Why piss on Godzilla's grave when his corpse isn't even cold?
No, that is a line of pure PR nonsense. They have to understand what they're doing. The situation is far more complicated than it was in 1998, but the battle lines are clearly drawn. Good vs. Evil for the soul of Godzilla, round 2. I'm calling it right now: Takashi Yamazaki directs and either Higuchi or Asada on sfx with a crew made up of "ascended fans."
If Toho fucks this up, we'll lose Godzilla forever, and that cannot happen.
I am /so/ excited for this movie! I've never had the opportunity to see a Toho Godzilla in theaters in my lifetime. I didn't have the oppurtunity to see G2000 in theaters, although that was in my lifetime. By the way I think your blog is one of the foremost sources for legit Godzilla news.
Universal Pictures should make an Americanized version of the movie. Like King Kong vs Godzilla, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla 1985, and Godzilla 2000.
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