It was surprising news to most people when Toho announced that they will be producing their first home-grown Godzilla movie in over a decade, following the success of the US-produced Gareth Edwards movie. And now we have our directors. Not only that, but we also have the first official image:
Toho have announced that Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi will direct Godzilla 2016, which is set for release (amazingly enough) in 2016. This will be two years before Gareth Edwards returns for Godzilla 2 and is the first Japanese-produced Godzilla movie since 2004’s disappointing Godzilla: Final Wars, which only managed to pull in $12 million upon release.
This also marks the first time two separate Godzilla franchises will be running concurrently.
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“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,” Toho in a statement.
Anno will also write the screenplay.
“Their drive to take on such new challenges was exactly what we all had been inspired by,” Toho said of the directing duo.
Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi teamed up previously on God Warrior Appears in Tokyo.
Originally published April 1, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
