Japanese Godzilla to be made by Toho studio

Japanese film studio Toho is making a new Godzilla film, following the success of Hollywood’s latest remake directed by Gareth Edwards.

Toho’s film will be released in 2016, a decade after its last take on the monster story, Godzilla: Final Wars.

This year’s American Godzilla took more than $500 million worldwide, and a sequel is already planned for 2018.

Toho said innovations in computer graphics technology were behind its decision to revive the franchise.

The film company previously said that its 2004 Godzilla film – the 28th in the series – would be its last.

The franchise began with 1954’s widely-praised Japanese original, directed by Ishiro Honda.

However, more recent productions – such as the 1998 Hollywood version directed by Roland Emmerich – failed to impress fans or critics.

Gareth Edward’s film – a co-production for Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers released in May this year – revived the franchise.

Toho, which owns the rights to Godzilla, has not yet picked a director for its upcoming reboot.

Producer Taichi Ueda is heading up the new project at Toho studios, which has launched the Godzilla Strategic Conference (Godzi-Con) – a committee aiming to reboot the Godzilla brand.

“The time has come for Japan to make a film that will not lose to Hollywood,” Taichi Ueda told reporters, according to Variety.

The company is not expected to spend the $200 million reportedly lavished on the recent Hollywood Godzilla, but Taichi Ueda said Toho hopes to make Godzilla a character that “will represent Japan and be loved around the world” by the time of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Godzilla – a combination of the Japanese words for whale and gorilla – is a mutation caused by nuclear testing.

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