Godzilla Eras

The Godzilla series consists of 32 film entries produced by the Japanese studio Toho Company Ltd., as well as two Hollywood adaptations produced by the American studios TriStar Pictures and Legendary Pictures, respectively.

The 30 Toho films are broken up into four distinct eras, the Showa, Heisei and Millennium series, each with its own characteristic style and corresponding to a different time period. A fourth series, dubbed the "Reiwa era" was kickstarted in 2016, following the release of Shin Godzilla.

The first two series, Showa and Heisei, are named after the political period of Japan in which they were produced, while the Millennium series refers to its being released at the start of the new millennium, due to the Heisei emperor, Akihito, still being Japan's reigning emperor. The fourth is dubbed as is due to it coming after the Millennium series, and bearing no relation or canonical relevancy to the previous series of films.

As the Godzilla franchise has developed over the years, its films have ranged from serious allegorical horror films warning against nuclear testing, social commentary on environmental, scientific, and political issues, to light-hearted action films aimed towards children, and everything in between.

Showa Era (1954 - 1975)

The first series of Godzilla films is named after the Showa period of Japan, referring to the reign of Emperor Hirohito which ended in 1989. The Showa series began with the original Godzilla in 1954, which was intended as a serious allegory warning of the horrors brought by nuclear weapons. Ishiro Honda, the film's director, had been present at the ruins of Hiroshima after it was leveled by the atomic bomb, inspiring him to create a film showing he devastation brought on by a nuclear attack on a major city. The film was also influenced by the then-recent Lucky Dragon No. 5 incident, where a Japanese fishing boat was contaminated by the detonation of the American hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954.

The film was criticized for exploiting recent national tragedies upon its release, but was financially successful enough for Toho to begin production of a sequel, Godzilla Raids Again, which was released less than a year later in 1955. While Godzilla Raids Again was not as successful as the first film, Toho began producing other giant monster films in the following years, including Rodan, Varan and Mothra. Toho produced the next entry in the Godzilla series in 1962, King Kong vs. Godzilla, after acquiring the rights to the character of King Kong from Universal and RKO Pictures. The film was a sizable global success, and inspired Toho to produce a Godzilla film nearly every year, along with other giant monster films not featuring Godzilla such as Dogora and Frankenstein vs. Baragon.

Godzilla developed as a character throughout the Showa series, initially beginning as a terrifying living nuclear allegory set on destroying Japan, and gradually becoming a benevolent monster that defended Japan from various threats, including other giant monsters and alien invaders. The Showa series introduced the tradition of Godzilla battling another monster in each film, beginning with the monster Anguirus in Godzilla Raids Again. Many of Godzilla's most popular allies and enemies, including Anguirus, Mothra, Rodan and King Ghidorah, made their debuts in Showa series films, some of them initially appearing outside the Godzilla series. As the series continued, it began to appeal more and more to younger audiences, featuring more fantastical plots and introducing characters like Minilla, Godzilla's son.

The Godzilla films of the Showa series all follow a single continuity (with the exception of All Monsters Attack), however continuity between the films is loose, and explicit references to previous entries are few and far between and usually restricted to the film directly before each entry. As the Japanese film industry declined in the 1970s, the Godzilla films began to rely on lower budgets and the use of stock footage from previous entries. Following the box office failure of the fifteenth Godzilla film, Terror of Mechagodzilla, in 1975, the series was placed on hiatus.

Heisei Era (1984 - 1995)

After several failed attempts to continue the Godzilla series in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Toho finally produced a new film, The Return of Godzilla, to commemorate the series' 30th anniversary in 1984. The Return of Godzilla rebooted and revamped the series by ignoring all entries after the original film and returning the series to its darker, more serious and allegorical roots. The film was a success, and was followed by a sequel, Godzilla vs. Biollante, five years later in 1989. Toho soon resumed its practice of producing a new film in the series every year, with a Godzilla film seeing release annually from 1991 to 1995.

The Heisei series films, in comparison to the Showa series, generally feature more serious and grounded plots and attempt to provide social commentary on contemporary issues such as genetic engineering, corporate corruption, and environmentalism, among other topics. The science and nature behind Godzilla became a much more plot-relevant topic in these films. These films also share a stronger sense of continuity between them, with flashbacks and explicit callbacks to the events of previous films as well as returning characters being common. The Heisei series also introduced the first concrete onscreen origin story for Godzilla in Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, showing him as a dinosaur called a Godzillasaurus that was mutated by nuclear radiation.

The Heisei series featured the return of many of Godzilla's allies and enemies from the Showa series, such as Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla, as well as introducing new monsters such as Biollante and SpaceGodzilla.

Anticipating the release of TriStar Pictures' American Godzilla film and its potential sequels in the late 1990s, Toho decided to end the Godzilla series in 1995 by killing off Godzilla in the film Godzilla vs. Destoroyah. Toho then planned to place the series in a ten-year hiatus while the American films were released, then resume production in 2005. In the meantime, Toho produced a trilogy of spin-off movies revolving around Mothra and her son from 1996 to 1998, with the third entry even featuring a returning Godzilla antagonist: King Ghidorah. Toho also distributed Daiei's successful Gamera trilogy from 1995 to 1999.

Like the Showa series, the Heisei series is named after the reigning emperor of Japan at the time, in this case the Heisei emperor Akihito. However, while The Return of Godzilla was released five years before the political Heisei period actually began, it is counted as the first entry of the Heisei series due to coming almost a decade after the last Showa film, Terror of Mechagodzilla, and sharing continuity with the Heisei series films that followed it.

Tristar Era (1998 - 2000)

In October 1992, Toho allowed Sony Pictures to make a trilogy of domestically produced Godzilla films, with the first film to be tentatively released in 1994. In May 1993, Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were brought on to write a script, and in July, 1994 Jan De Bont, director of Speed and Twister, signed on to direct. De Bont ultimately quit due to budget disputes, and director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on before the release of the highly successful Independence Day. They rejected the previous script and wrote an entirely new treatment, while monster designer Patrick Tatopoulos radically redesigned the titular monster. The film was finally scheduled for release on May 19, 1998.

Godzilla was met with mostly negative reviews from critics and strongly negative reaction from the fan base. It also received backlash from Toho themselves, who proceeded to make Godzilla 2000: Millennium in apparent retaliation. Having grossed $375 million worldwide from the film, though, the studio moved ahead with an animated spin-off titled Godzilla: The Series, which was generally more well-received than the film.

Tab Murphy wrote a sequel treatment for the film, but Emmerich and Devlin left the production in March, 1999 due to budget disputes. Sony's original deal with Toho was to make a sequel within five years of release of a film, but after sitting on their property, considering a reboot, Sony's rights to make a Godzilla 2 expired in May of 2003, ending any chance of a sequel or new Godzilla film produced by the company. Toho later trademarked the version of Godzilla from the 1998 film as "Zilla" for all future appearances, claiming it "took the 'God' out of 'Godzilla,'" and featured it in the film Godzilla: Final Wars.

Millennium Era (1999 - 2004)

The Millennium series is the third individual series of Godzilla films. Its name refers to these films' release coinciding with the start of the new millennium in the year 2000. Toho originally planned to hold off production of a new Godzilla film until 2005, but the poor reception and fan backlash received by TriStar Pictures' 1998 American Godzilla film convinced them to bring the series out of retirement early. The first entry in the Millennium series was Godzilla 2000: Millennium, released in December of 1999. This film featured a new, revamped version of Godzilla with a more feral design and huge jagged purple dorsal plates. Toho produced a new entry in the Millennium series each year from 1999 until 2004.

Unlike the Showa and Heisei films, the Millennium series took the characteristics of an anthology series, with each new entry disregarding the ones before it and using the original film as a jumping-off point. Due to the films' different continuities, both Godzilla's design and size could change dramatically from film to film. The films Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., sometimes collectively referred to as the "Kiryu Saga," are the only two films in the Millennium series to share continuity. Aside from the original film, these two films incorporate the events of numerous Toho kaiju films from the Showa series into their continuity, including Mothra and War of the Gargantuas. The Millennium series ended with Godzilla's 50th anniversary film, Godzilla: Final Wars in 2004, after which Toho decided to place the series on a ten-year hiatus in order to renew interest.

MonsterVerse Era (2014 - )

After the release of 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars, marking the 50th anniversary of the Godzilla film franchise, Toho announced that it would not produce any films featuring the Godzilla character for ten years. Toho demolished the water stage on its lot used in numerous Godzilla films to stage water-based scenes.

Director Yoshimitsu Banno, who had directed 1971's Godzilla vs. Hedorah, secured the rights from Toho to make an IMAX 3D short film production, based on a remake of the Godzilla vs. Hedorah story. Banno was unable to find backers to produce the film, causing it be delayed by several years. Banno later met American producer Brian Rogers, and the two planned to work together on the project. Rogers approached Legendary Pictures in 2009, and the project became a plan to produce a feature film instead.

In March, 2010, Legendary formally announced the project after it had acquired rights to make a Godzilla film from Toho Company Ltd., with a tentative release date of 2012. The project was co-produced with Warner Bros., who co-financed the project. Legendary said their film would not be a sequel to the 1998 Godzilla but a reboot to the franchise.

Legendary first promoted the planned new film at the San Diego Comic-Con International fan convention in July, 2010. Legendary commissioned a new conceptual artwork of Godzilla, consistent with the Japanese design of the monster. The artwork was used in an augmented reality display produced by Talking Dog Studios.

Every visitor to the convention was given a T-shirt illustrated with the concept art. When viewed by webcam at the Legendary Pictures booth, the image on-screen would spout radioactive breath and the distinctive Godzilla roar could be heard.

Gareth Edwards, who directed the 2010 independent film, Monsters, was attached in January, 2011 to direct the new Godzilla film.

When Edwards' signing was announced, it was also announced that David Callaham's first draft was rejected and the film would be rewritten by a new writer. In July, 2011, Legendary announced that writer David Goyer would write the script however on November 9, 2011, it was reported that Max Borenstein had been attached to write the film instead.

Legendary Pictures' Godzilla was released on May 16, 2014, and was financially successful, which was compounded by mostly positive responses from critics and fans alike. The film's success convinced Legendary to produce a trilogy of American Godzilla films, with the second installment, tentatively titled Godzilla: King of the Monsters, scheduled for a March 22, 2019 theatrical release. Legendary later acquired the rights to King Kong from its new partner Universal Pictures and began producing a reboot to the Kong franchise titled Kong: Skull Island, which was meant to reintroduce the character for an upcoming crossover film with Godzilla set for release on May 29, 2020.

Toho, meanwhile, was inspired by the film's success to begin production on their own new Japanese Godzilla film for summer of 2016.

Reiwa Era (2016 - )

During the ten-year hiatus following the close of the Millennium series, Toho reached an agreement with American studio Legendary Pictures to produce a new American Godzilla film, which was released in 2014. The film proved successful, convincing Toho that now was a good time to produce a new Godzilla film. Toho's new film, Shin Godzilla, was released in Japanese theaters on July 29, 2016, and in North American theaters on October 11, 2016.

Following the release of Shin Godzilla, a new animated Godzilla trilogy was announced to begin releasing in 2017, being produced by Toho and Polygon Pictures. The first film's title was later revealed to be Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, with a Japanese release date of November 17, 2017 being revealed. The film was later released on the Netflix streaming service on January 17, 2018 for territories outside of Japan.

The sequel to Planet of the Monsters, titled Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle was released in Japan on May 18, 2018, and on July 18, 2018 everywhere else. The third and final film in the animated trilogy, Godzilla: The Planet Eater, was released on November 7, 2018.

In October of 2020, it was announced that another Netflix-exclusive Godzilla anime series would be released in April of 2021. Dubbed Godzilla: Singular Point, the series is set to be unrelated to the prior anime trilogy of films, and will follow an entirely new cast in a new continuity.

This era of films and television series released by Toho would follow a general anthology format, much like the Millennium series, with Shin Godzilla, the anime trilogy, and Singular Point being entirely unrelated to each other.

Films by Series