Though Warner Bros. is developing their own Godzilla sequel, a follow-up to last year’s blockbuster set for release June 8, 2018, the king of the monsters’ parent company Toho is developing a film of their own set to debut next year.
Today, Toho announced that filmmakers Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, known for their work on “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and the upcoming live-action Attack on Titan, will co-direct the feature. Anno will pen the script for the series with Higuchi set to supervise the special effects.
“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 said in a statement (via Variety).
In addition, a teaser image for the 2016 film was released which you can check out above.
Production on the 29th Godzilla movie, the first from Toho since 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, will begin this summer and aims for global market appeal, meaning we could see a major release here in the states come 2016. In the 2004 film, Toho used a visual of the 1998 American Godzilla being quickly and mercilessly defeated by Japanese Godzilla at the Sydney Opera House.
Toho previously revealed they will utilize CG technology, which means that the man-in-suit days may be numbered, although it will be interesting to see if the new American version’s design will influence the iconic monster, who first appeared in 1954 and stands as Guinness World Records 2015’s longest-running movie franchise.
