It has been 2018 since we last saw Toho release a Godzilla movie and there were some speculation back in January that Toho Co. could be making an announcement for a new film based on their Twitter promoting Mothra sort of heavily and a picture of a clock that read 9:24 (or 9:00 going by the 12 hour clock). This lead some people to believe there would be an announcement at that time or an announcement on September 24th. Yesterday, we got an announcement that the director of the Always: Sunset On Third Street trilogy and The Great War of Archimedes, Takashi Yamazaki, has signed on to make a new kaiju film.
This announcement came not on Toho's Twitter page or from a source like The Hollywood Report or Variety. This news came from the Godzilla+ app, which is only available in Japan.
There is a lot of detail in this announcement on how to apply to be an extra in this film, but the gist of the details on the movie, so far, are that they begin shooting in mid-March and they are making a casting call for extras to shoot a scene that takes place between the years 1945-47.
I am interested to see what Yamazaki does with this new monster movie. He is not entirely a stranger to Godzilla. This director added Godzilla in one of the Always movies in a dream sequence where one of the characters was trying to write his own monster movie and his little brother criticizes his story for being a knock-off Godzilla. So this director is not entirely a stranger to Godzilla.
If you have seen his movies, you can tell that he is a fan of telling stories set in the showa era of Japan. The Always trilogy, The Great War of Archimedes, and The Eternal Zero are his most notable movies when his name pops up and those movies are all set during WW2 or after WW2. So it would be no surprise if this director decided to make a monster movie that is set in the mid-1940's. It has me very curious to see what this director does with this movie.
Godzilla fans are speculating that this could be Toho getting ready to begin making their own live-action Godzilla movie due to this announcement coming from the Godzilla app and no where else. It could very well could be a new Godzilla movie that is being produced by Toho. We have talked about where Toho could take Godzilla next in future projects and speculated on ideas like moving forward with their own Godzilla cinematic universe or just sitting back and letting Legendary continue with the Monsterverse. If Toho is moving forward with making their own live-action Godzilla movie, then I say great and I hope it's good. Toho has not impressed me with Polygon's Monster Planet trilogy and Godzilla: Singular Point, in terms of their stories, and has made me sort of weary with what Toho does in the future.
There is potential that this could be a movie about a brand new monster. The last monster movies that was produced by Toho and was not Godzilla related were Attack On Titan and Attack On Titan: Part 2, which both movies were released in 2015. Although those two movies were based on the long running manga and anime series, it is not unheard of for Toho to come up with a stand alone monster movie.
The last idea I have could be a combination of the previous two. This movie is still about a brand new monster, but it takes place in a new Godzilla movie series and eventually Godzilla and this new monster will meet in another movie down the line. I don't know if Toho could really plan that far ahead like Marvel. We will see what comes from this as this movie develops.
What are your thoughts on the announcement? Do you think this is a new Godzilla movie or could it be a new monster movie that is unrelated to Godzilla? Have you seen any of the movies made by this director? Leave a comment in the comments section of your thoughts on Toho announcing a new monster movie. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Minds, MeWe, and Gab to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.
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