Godzilla has had a good run in Hollywood for almost a decade now thanks to the MonsterVerse. The Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures franchise kicked off in 2014 introducing this version of the reptilian Titan, and following his showdown with King Kong last year, a Godzilla vs. Kong sequel is set for release in 2024. Before that though, there’s another Godzilla movie on the way, though this one comes from Japan, the monster’s home turf.
Toho, the film studio that owns Godzilla and licenses him out to the MonsterVerse, has announced that it will release a new Godzilla movie on November 3, 2023, a.k.a. the 69th anniversary of when the first Godzilla movie came out, in Japan, followed by its release in the United States and other markets at a later time. The only other major piece of information that Toho revealed about this untitled Godzilla movie (via CNBC) is that Takashi Yamazaki, who handled the visual effects on Shin Godzilla, will direct the feature. Toho also shared a teaser image for this upcoming movie:
11.3.23 pic.twitter.com/H2uJo3gwHmNovember 3, 2022
This will be the first live-action Godzilla movie that Toho has directly delivered since Shin Godzilla came out in 2016, though that was followed by the animated movies Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle and Godzilla: The Planet Eater (these three can be streamed with a Netflix subscription). All of the Japanese Godzilla movies that have been released since Shin Godzilla are part of the Reiwa era, which followed after the Millennium era concluded in 2004 with Godzilla: Final Wars. And in case it wasn’t already clear, this Godzilla movie coming out in November 2023 will not have anything to do with the MonsterVerse stateside. Still, it’s nice to know that some cinematic Godzilla action is heading our way before Godzilla vs. Kong 2.
As far as the MonsterVerse is concerned, we’ve seen Godzilla rampage three times within it so far. 2014’s Godzilla saw him engaging with the MUTOs, 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters pitted him against King Ghidorah and Rodan (though Mothra came in as a welcome ally), and after Godzilla vs. Kong’s title monsters went a few rounds with each other, they teamed up to destroy Mechagodzilla. Godzilla and Kong will cross paths again when a “colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence,” as well as humanity’s.
Godzilla vs. Kong 2 will see the return of Rebecca Hall’s Dr. Ilene Andrews, Brian Tyree Henry’s Bernie Hayes and Kaylee Hottle’s Jia, all of whom debuted in Godzilla vs. Kong. Dan Stevens was the first new actor to be brought aboard, and he’ll be joined by Fala Chen, Alex Ferns and Rachel House. Director Adam Wingard is reprising his helming duties, and Terry Rossio, Jeremy Slater and Simon Barrett all worked on the script. Filming began in Gold Coast, Queensland on July 29, 2022.
Godzilla vs. Kong 2 hits theaters on March 15, 2024, and the MonsterVerse franchise is also expanding through a Netflix anime series called Skull Island and a live-action series titled Godzilla and the Titans, which will be available exclusively to Apple TV+ subscribers. As we wait for more Godzilla-related news, scan through the lineup of 2023 new movie releases.
