RIP: Godzilla's next film will be his last, ending a 50-year series of 28 movies.

BBC On Line ^ | Wednesday, 3 March, 2004 | staff writer

[yankeedame]

Last Updated: Wednesday, 3 March, 2004, 14:39 GMT

Final battle looms for Godzilla

Japanese cinema favourite Godzilla's next film appearance will be his last, ending a 50-year series of 28 movies. The giant lizard will star in Final Wars this December - ending a movie franchise that has attracted almost 100 million fans in Japan alone since 1954.

In that time, he has become an icon of Japanese culture and a global star.

But he may return if a "new generation of directors emerge or a brand new film-making method is found to create a whole new world", the film studio said.

The new film "will compile the fruits of 50 years' work and put an end to the series", according to Yukihiko Mochida, spokesman for the Toho studio.

Topical

Final Wars will feature 10 monsters from past Godzilla adventures.

They will include the new, stronger Monster X and will go on the rampage in New York, Shanghai, Sydney and Paris.

Godzilla has taken breaks from his big screen roles twice previously - once in 1975 when the popularity of television saw the number of cinema-goers fall, and once again in 1995.

The green monster was resurrected as a computer-generated creature in a Hollywood blockbuster five years ago but the $120m (£65.5m) film was a flop.

The first Godzilla film featured the lizard emerging out of the sea after being awakened by a US atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific in 1954.

Up to 1,000 people per day flocked to see an exhibition on the character in Tokyo in 2002 - double the number that usually went to the Japanese museum where it was held.

(all photos mine -- YD

[yankeedame]

"The party's over,
It's time to call it a day.
They burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away...
... the party's over, my friend..."

[TheBigB]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! :-(

I am a huge fan of the classic Godzilla. They've supposedly killed him off twice already, so maybe this won't be the last one.

[Fintan]

Sorry...I thought this thread was about Hillary.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

All the big stars say they're retiring...

and then they come back for the specials, reunion tours, etc.


Godzilla's no different. The big phony.

[Lion in Winter]

He has the most expressive eyes in show business.

I am saddened, deeply. Alas, poor godzilla... we knew him well.

[Piranha]

I think this is just a PR campaign. Guess what: Godzilla ISN'T REAL! They can keep on making Godzilla movies as long as there is demand for them! The article even says that they will continue to do so if there is further demand.

Do you own stock in the Japanese studio?

[Constitution Day]

Guess what: Godzilla ISN'T REAL!

No way!
I bet you're going to tell me that all that candy my daughter gets at Easter isn't really delivered by a giant rabbit!

[dfwgator]

Oh No they say he's got to go, go go Godzilla.

[RikaStrom]

Nooooooooo, say it ain't so!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

I bet you're going to tell me that all that candy my daughter gets at Easter isn't really delivered by a giant rabbit!

You can tell Harvey yourself. I'm not doin' it.

[yankeedame]

I think this is just a PR campaign. Guess what: Godzilla ISN'T REAL! They can keep on making Godzilla movies as long as there is demand for them! The article even says that they will continue to do so if there is further demand.

Was your mouth out with soap you...you...philistine!

(/sarcasm)

[Seruzawa]

It's too bad actually. Just think what a world power Japan would have been if Godzilla hadn't regularly kicked the snot out of the islands. Now that he's gone we're all doomed.

[avg_freeper]

History shows again and again
how nature points out
the folly of man.

[R. Scott]

NOOOOOO!!!!
An enjoyable Saturday is to kick back watching Godzilla movies all day!
At least they will be in reruns for the next century or so, and that's good even if I do have all of them memorized.

[hchutch]

Say it ain't so...

I like that guy... just a cute little lizard...

[Alouette]

I believe they made two versions of Godzilla vs. King Kong, one to show in the U.S. (where Kong wins) and another to show in Japan (where homeboy Godzilla wins).

[TheBigB]

That's a myth; there was only one version of the film. In both America and Japan, Kong is seen walking away while Godilla is nowhere to be found.

[LRS]

Who'll save the Earth from evil giant monster aliens now?

We're doomed I tell you, DOOMED!!!!

[yankeedame]

It's too bad actually. Just think what a world power Japan would have been if Godzilla hadn't regularly kicked the snot out of the islands. Now that he's gone we're all doomed.

True...but on the bright side it'll now be possible to get property insurance in Tokyo.

[TheBigB]

Which ones are your favorites?