Originally published August 7, 2015. Updated April 13, 2018.
With Gareth Edwards’ American reboot of Godzilla pulling in $528 million worldwide, the production company behind the original series announced they were developing their first Godzilla movie since 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars. Production starts next month, and its director Shinji Higuchi (Attack on Titan) is promising the most terrifying version of the King of the Monsters yet.
“I’m confident I am among the top-50 lovers of Godzilla in the world. That’s how much I love Godzilla,” he told The Associated Press. “Maybe I’m not in the top 10, but definitely in the top 50.”
“Godzilla had to deliver more and more, responding to calls from the audience, as well as creators,” he adds. “Godzilla went through these stages, resetting itself, developing and then succumbing to exhaustion, until it just got so big it had to stop. It’s an imaginary thing taking a very primitive form. Just a giant lizard. But it’s shouldering so much,” said Higuchi of Godzilla’s awe-evoking powers. Perhaps we are all waiting for that horrible thing that’s within us that we fear.”
Higuchi has said that he is under strict instructions not to reveal any details of Godzilla 2016, but he has said that with Japan’s current film technology, he will be able to make a “hybrid” of CGI and suitmation that the series is famous for.
Toho first produced Gojira back in 1954, and the King of the Monsters has featured in 28 movies since then, but dwindling audience for Godzilla: Final Wars forced the production company to put the kaiju on ice. Edward’s 2014 remake, which Higuchi calls a “masterpiece”, restored enough interest in the creature for Toho to produce his 29th outing in his native Japan.
