The 27th Godzilla film, set for release on December 4 on 300 screens, will be the last, or so says Toho, the studio that nurtured the series throughout its 50 year history. Thus the title Godzilla Final Wars. Thus the on-screen "reunion" of 10 monsters from previous Godzilla films. Thus the hiring of Ryuhei Kitamura, the hot young director of such action epics as Sky High and Azumi, to send the series off with style -- and a much-needed box office bang.
For the fact is that, after half a century, the series looks and feels its age. The 26th film, Godzilla Tokyo SOS, could manage only Y1.2 billion ($11.4 million) in its home market last year -- barely enough to pay off its production costs. Even more humiliating, it was paired on a double bill with a cartoon about a cute hamster -- and the hamster, who also appeared on a highly rated TV show and countless character goods, was considered as strong a box office draw as the Big G.
For all their CG Viagra in the form of space monsters and explosions, recent series entries still looked like Ishiro Honda's 1954 original in two vital aspects: Godzilla was played by a man in a suit and the cityscape he tromped, by miniature models. Toho was loathe to abandon this tradition, but it helped limit the series' appeal to what the studio called "the family market": i.e., nostalgic parents and their under-ten kids.
Toho hopes that Godzilla Final Wars will appeal to Kitamura's teen and young adult fans as well -- no hamster on the bill this time. Or as producer Shogo Tomiyama said in a statement to the press: "We will put all the beauties and terrors of Godzilla in this film." Not to mention the guy in the suit.
