Toho announces new Godzilla film for 2016; filming begins next summer

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

"History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men. GODZILLA!"

Ok, some Blue Oyster Cult lyrics seemed fitting for this awesome news. Following the success of this year's reboot from Legendary Pictures, Japan's Toho is to produce its first GODZILLA film since 2004's GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, with the film set to hit cinemas in 2016, according to THR.

Budget, cast and director for what will be the 29th installment from Toho have yet to be decided, according to the studio. Taiji Ueda, who is overseeing the new “Godzicon” group – an organization to discuss and decide a wide range of strategies for promoting Godzilla – shares that production is slated to begin in summer 2015 and the film will be aimed at the global market, stating…

“The screenplay is currently in development and we plan to start shooting next summer. We cannot announce cast or staff selections at this time. And we’re still deliberating whether to bring Godzilla to life via CGI or man-in-suit.”

THR and Nikkea go on to share that although Toho concedes it can't match $200 million Hollywood-size budget, advances in CG will allow it to create a film that can stand alongside such productions. Ueda states…

“The passionate voices of the fans clamored for a resurrection (of the Japanese Godzilla). We will bring the monster back to Japan, with the same high-quality, by bringing together our collective know-how, which we’ve been striving for, so we can’t lose to Hollywood.”

This is pretty exciting news indeed. And let's not forget that Legendary also has the sequel to Gareth Edwards' GODZILLA slated for 2018, so we can expect a lot of action from the big guy over the next few years.