Directors Announced for Toho’s New Godzilla Movie

Since the radioactive reptile made his debut in Ishiro Honda's 1954 film, Godzilla, Japan's Toho has distributed nearly 30 films featuring the gargantuan creature, but they haven't released one in the last decade. Spurred on by the international success of Warner Bros. and Legendary's 2014 Godzilla movie, Toho late last year announced a new Godzilla movie and now they've attached two directors to the film.

The Good, The Bad, and Godzilla reports that Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi will co-helm Toho's new Godzilla film, the first franchise entry from the company since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars. In addition to co-directing, Anno will pen the screenplay, while Higuchi will supervise the film's VFX.

Plot details for the new Godzilla movie are unknown at this time, but the project is expected to begin filming this fall with an eye on a summer 2016 release in Japan.

Anno and Higuchi have worked together before, having collaborated on the 2012 animated short, Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. Higuchi is no stranger to the King of the Monsters. He worked behind-the-scenes on 1984's The Return of Godzilla and 2001's Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates. Below is a teaser illustration for the new Godzilla film (via Variety).

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. and Legendary plan to unleash the sequel to 2014's Godzilla, currently titled Godzilla 2, on June 8th, 2018. Gareth Edwards will jump back into the director’s chair for a second round with Godzilla (once again working off a screenplay by Max Borenstein) after completing his directing duties on the 2016 Star Wars stand-alone movie, Rogue One.

No plot details have surfaced for the sequel, but we do know that the monsters Rodan, Mothra, and King Ghidorah will appear in Godzilla 2 for what will likely be a smack-down of citywide proportions. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on both Godzilla movies.