It's been over sixty years since GODZILLA was first introduced to audiences, and in all that time, it's somewhat surprising that there's never been an official animated GODZILLA film, until now. Not only will Toho be releasing their first animated GODZILLA flick to theaters later this year, but two sequels to what is titled GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET are already planned. The film takes place in the future world of 2048 and follows the group of human beings who take revenge after being pushed from Earth by monsters such as Godzilla. We haven't seen all that much from the upcoming film beyond some concept art and a featurette, but now a frustratingly short teaser trailer for GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET has been released which gives us a quick peek at our world under the iron fist of Godzilla. Check it out!
Between GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET, Toho's own recent franchise reboot GODZILLA: RESURGENCE, and Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse which includes the upcoming GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS on March 22, 2019 and GODZILLA VS. KONG on May 22, 2020, it's a damn fine time to be a GODZILLA fan.
The official synopsis for GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET:
The last summer of the 20th Century. That day, the human beings learn that they are not the only ruler of the planet Earth. The appearance of the giant living creatures "Kaiju's" and the ultimate existence that destroys all monsters: Godzilla. Through the battle against kaiju’s that lasted for half a century, human beings has experienced continuous defeat, and finally plans to escape from the Earth. And in 2048, only those who were selected by the A.I. managed under the central government boarded the inter-sidereal emigrant spaceship "Aratrum" to head for "Tau Cetus e", the planet beyond the distance of 11.9 light-year. However, the environmental condition differences between that of the Earth and Tau e, which they finally arrived after 20 years were far beyond the predicted numbers, and was not an environment considered to be habitable by human beings.
The young man on the emigrant ship: Haruo, who saw his parents killed by Godzilla in front of his eyes when he was 4 years old, had only one thing in his mind for 20 years: to return to the Earth and defeat Godzilla. Shut out from the possibility of emigration, as the living environment in the ship deteriorates, the group of "Earth Returnists" led by Haruo became the majority, and determines to head back to Earth through a dangerous long-distance hyperspace navigation. However, the Earth they have returned has already passed the time of 20,000 years, and has become an unknown world with the ecosystem reigned by Godzilla. At the end, will human beings win back the Earth? And what will Haruo see beyond his fate…?
GODZILLA: MONSTER PLANET will be released in Japan on November 17, 2017, after which it will be released worldwide on Netflix after its theatrical debut.