A new Godzilla movie is officially in the works for Toho. Toho is a film company from Japan that introduced Godzilla for the first time in 1955.
Since then, the Godzilla franchise has spawned 33 Godzilla movies in Japanese and five in English, most of them belonging to Legendary’s Monsterverse, which also includes Kong: Skull Island.
Toho has produced and distributed all Japanese films, with the most recent being Godzilla Minus One, which was a huge critical and commercial success in 2023.
1. Toho Officially Working on New Godzilla Movie
Through the official X Godzilla account, Toho has just announced that they will be producing a new Godzilla movie. The movie will again be under the direction of Takashi Yamazaki, who was also the writer, director, and visual effects supervisor for Godzilla Minus One.
They made the announcement in the form of a short video featuring an SOS emergency message, set against the backdrop of an urgent snippet of one of the franchise’s iconic musical themes, courtesy of Akira Ifukube.
2. Possible Sequel to Minus One
It was only natural for Japan to release a new Godzilla movie after the huge success that Godzilla Minus One had at the box office. Not only did the movie score a near-perfect Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes at 99%, but it also became the first movie in the franchise to win an Academy Award, specifically in the Best Visual Effects category.
Earning $116 million from a budget of around $15 million, the movie became a huge success. Currently, Godzilla Minus One is also the highest-grossing Japanese movie of all time.
However, it is still uncertain whether this latest movie will take place directly after Minus One in the Godzilla timeline. Although Yamazaki’s return raises the possibility of it being a direct sequel. It is also a sign of continuing Toho’s promise to bring back the kaiju that appeared at the end of the 2023 movie.
If the new Godzilla movie really is a direct sequel to Minus One, that would be very exciting news. The movie, released in 2023, has already focused enough on character development in the franchise, and has created the foundation for a follow-up story full of destruction and drama.
After Noriko Ōishi (Minami Hamabe) survives, her life is interrupted by the appearance of black marks on her skin. These marks could either mean as radiation poisoning or as a sign that the character is infected with G-cells. Both could have a huge impact on the upcoming sequel movie.
