Toho made the surprise announcement on Thursday that a new Godzilla movie will be released next year on Nov. 3, 2023, the 69th anniversary of the King of the Monsters.
Thursday happened to be Godzilla Day, the 68th anniversary, where Toho released the following logo featuring a big “G” with the announcement on Twitter.
Translated, the tweet says, “The latest Godzilla movie will be produced. Director: Takashi Yamazaki. To be released on November 3, 2023 (Friday).”
Takashi Yamazaki is known for Always: Sunset on Third Street, Dragon Quest: Your Story, and Lupin III: The First.
The new King of the Monsters movie from Toho is not connected in any way to the Godzilla vs Kong sequel that is in development from Legendary.
Toho released Shin Godzilla in 2016 so there is speculation if this new flick is a sequel or connected to that.
Another possibility is that this could be a brand new Toho franchise, as back in 2018 plans were underway to build a shared universe similar to that of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with various connected films set within the same Toho kaiju universe.
Godzilla 2023 from Toho said to be said in post-war-Japan
Rumors offer the film is either set or at least partially set in 1940s post-war Japan, and it will be live-action.
Reportedly, filming is already underway or even finished and in the editing process (which is suggested by the release date being a year away), with it said a solid chunk of the movie is set in 1944.
At the same time, it’s rumored to also be set in the 1990’s and that time travel is involved somehow (or maybe a time jump).
If the new movie is indeed set in the 1940s, that puts it before the original 1954 Godzilla.
A casting call is said to have leaked that offered at least three months of filming has been dedicated to the post-war 1940s setting, so again, at least a large portion of the new movie may be set within that time frame.
The new film will also mark the 30th live-action Godzilla movie from Toho and the 33rd project as Toho released three Anime films in 2017 and 2018.
(details/rumors via Reddit)
