List of Godzilla movies
This is a list of all official feature-length Godzilla movies. There are currently 38 films in the franchise: 17 authored by Toho (one of which with Benedict Pictures), three by Toho Eizo, 13 by Toho Pictures, one by TriStar Pictures et al., and four by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures et al. Toho only considers the live-action films that it or its subsidiaries have created to comprise the numerical entries in the franchise; as such, it excludes the Hollywood adaptations and animated films from the numerical order and maintains that Godzilla Minus One is the 30th Godzilla film.[1] The most recent film overall is Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.
List
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Main series
There are a total of 30 Godzilla movies which comprise the mainline series. The movies are split into four distinct subseries: the Showa era, comprising the first 15 films; the Heisei era, comprising the next seven films; the Millennium era, comprising the next six films after that; and the Reiwa era, which currently includes Shin Godzilla and Godzilla Minus One, as well as three animated films that are not counted among the mainline entries. Despite the Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa eras being named after the reigns of Japanese emperors (the Shōwa period, Heisei period, and Reiwa period), the periods of time in which they were released do not precisely correspond with the durations of the emperors' reigns; the first film of the Heisei era, The Return of Godzilla, was in fact released during the Shōwa period, and Shin Godzilla was released during the Heisei period. Moreover, the Millennium era was released entirely within the Heisei period.
Hollywood films
Five Godzilla movies have been produced entirely by Hollywood studios. However, it should be noted that three of the Japanese Godzilla films were brought to the United States with new footage shot by American studios inserted into them. These include Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (a 1956 Americanization of 1954's Godzilla), the 1963 American release of King Kong vs. Godzilla, and Godzilla 1985 (a 1985 Americanization of 1984's The Return of Godzilla). Though these are generally not included in the tally of American Godzilla films, the 2016 Japanese book Shin Godzilla Walker: The New Legend of the King of the Monsters does treat Godzilla, King of the Monsters! as a distinct work.[3]
There have also been two Godzilla films created as cooperations between American and Japanese companies from their inception. Invasion of Astro-Monster was produced in Japan but co-funded by Benedict Pictures Corporation of the United States, while Godzilla: King of the Monsters was shot in America but co-funded by Toho. Despite this, Invasion of Astro-Monster is primarily considered a Japanese film and is part of the main Godzilla series, while Godzilla: King of the Monsters is primarily an American film and is included among the American spinoffs.
The 1998 film by TriStar et al. is standalone, while the other four American Godzilla films, produced by Legendary Pictures, share continuity and make up the Monsterverse series along with the 2017 King Kong film Kong: Skull Island.
| # | Poster | Title (Japanese) |
Release date | Funded by | Produced by | Director(s) | Writer(s) | VFX supervisor | Monsters* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story | Screenplay | ||||||||||
| #1 |  |
GODZILLA ( |
May 19, 1998 | TriStar Pictures Fried Films Independent Pictures |
Centropolis Entertainment | Roland Emmerich | Dean Devlin Roland Emmerich |
Volker Engel | |||
| #2 |  |
Godzilla (GODZILLA ゴジラ) |
May 16, 2014 | Legendary Pictures Warner Bros. RatPac-Dune Entertainment |
Legendary Pictures | Gareth Edwards | David Callaham | Max Borenstein | Jim Rygiel | ||
| #3 |  |
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (ゴジラ キング・ オブ・モンスターズ, lit. "Godzilla: King of Monsters") |
May 31, 2019 | Legendary Pictures Warner Bros. Toho Huahua Media[b] |
Michael Dougherty | Max Borenstein Michael Dougherty |
Michael Dougherty Zach Shields |
Guillaume Rocheron |
| ||
| #4 |  |
Godzilla vs. Kong (ゴジラ |
March 31, 2021 | Legendary Pictures Warner Bros. |
Adam Wingard | Terry Rossio Michael Dougherty Zach Shields |
Eric Pearson Max Borenstein |
John DesJardin |
| ||
| #5 |  |
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (ゴジラxコング 新たなる帝国) |
March 29, 2024 | Legendary Pictures Warner Bros. |
Terry Rossio Adam Wingard Simon Barrett |
Terry Rossio Simon Barrett Jeremy Slater |
Alessandro Ongaro |
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Animated films
A trilogy of animated Godzilla films was created by Toho, but is not considered to be part of the main film series, likely because of the films' lack of live-action cinematography. The films are, however, counted as part of the Reiwa era.
Peculiarly, Godzilla.com, the official international website for the Godzilla franchise, previously counted the TV shows Godzilla, Godzilla: The Series, and Godzilla Singular Point as "films," bringing its tally of animated entries to six.[5]
| # | Poster | Title (Japanese) |
Release date | Funded by | Animated by | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Monsters* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Story | Screenplay | |||||||||||
| #1 |  |
GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters ( |
November 17, 2017 | Toho | Polygon Pictures | Kobun Shizuno Hiroyuki Seshita |
Gen Urobuchi | Gen Urobuchi |
| |||
| #2 |  |
GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle ( lit. "GODZILLA: Battle Mobile Proliferation City") |
May 18, 2018 | Sadayuki Murai Tetsuya Yamada Gen Urobuchi |
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| #3 |  |
GODZILLA: The Planet Eater ( |
November 9, 2018 | Gen Urobuchi |
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See also
Notes
- ↑ Though Higuchi is credited as tokugi kantoku (特技監督, "director of special effects") in Japanese, Toho's English-language press notes specify that he is the VFX director. Onoue was the director for the film's second unit, which shot a small number of practical effects sequences, making him more akin to the special effects directors of prior Godzilla films.
- ↑ Huahua Media purchased a stake in the film just before its release,[4] and therefore could not have contributed to its production budget.
References
This is a list of references for List of Godzilla movies. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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Bibliography
- Nakamura, Satoshi; Shiraishi, Masahiko; Aita, Tetsuo; Tomoi, Taketo; Shimazaki, Jun; Maruyama, Takeshi; Shimizu, Toshifumi; Hayakawa, Masaru (29 November 2014). Godzilla Toho Champion Festival Perfection. ASCII MEDIA WORKS. ISBN 978-4-04-866999-3.
- Kikuchi, Takeshi; Kato, Yuto; Yamamoto, Kyotaro, eds. (26 September 2016). Shin Godzilla Walker: The New Legend of the King of the Monsters (3rd ed.). Kodansha. ISBN 978-4-04-895632-1.
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