Kaiju History: There Is A Proposal For A ‘Shin Godzilla’ Sequel We Could’ve Gotten Years Ago
Shin Godzilla’s return to theaters probably won’t go down as tremendously as the film’s first run in theaters, but it is renewing interest in the film. In retrospect, what surprises many is that it was a standalone effort, which is a rarity in the history of this long-reigning kaiju king. Usually, one Godzilla begets another and, before too long, there is an entire era to enjoy and dissect.
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While Shin served as a kind of Ghidorah alpha call rallying the current Reiwa period, it didn’t lead to anything connecting back to it the way the first Gojira, The Return of Godzilla in 1984, or Godzilla 2000 (aka Millennium) did in their time. However, as Godzilla Minus One is getting that same distinction today, Toho decided they are willing to make up for lost time and consider a sequel to the 2016 entry in the series.
The recent and overdue news is being received with excitement, but we kaiju faithful should be cautiously optimistic at best. There is always a chance nothing could come of it; internal conversations at Toho could stall, or they might change their mind for any reason, absurd or practical. This has happened many times through the years and generations, as you regular readers of this column can attest.
In fact, Toho may have put the brakes on a Shin Godzilla sequel once already, and shortly after it became a raging success, no less. Around the time the MonsterVerse was really getting going and building to Godzilla and Kong’s big showdown, there was a pitch for a second ShinGoji that harkened back to the Showa days of monster mashing.
According to Toho Kingdom, where most of the information and speculation about this idea circulates, the pitch was issued in a proposal written by Shin writer and co-director Hideaki Anno, dubbed the “Sequel Shin Godzilla Memo.” He pushed for something cheap and easy to produce that could be treated like Godzilla films that were exported and shown in foreign markets with new titles.
This was standard practice back in the day and started with the first ever follow-up to Gojira, Godzilla Raids Again in 1955, which was reissued in America as Gigantis, the Fire Monster (1959). Anno also wanted to revive the dated trope of using old footage to pad a movie’s story and action sequences – something Gigantis, the original Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and subsequent films into the 70s would be guilty of.
The required footage would come from Shin, though how much they could use without being repetitive or obvious is anybody’s guess. I can imagine that Anno and his desired director, Shinji Higuchi, would’ve only reused scenes of Godzilla’s destruction and the Japanese Defense Forces fighting back, since Toho typically cut corners to save on effects shots.
They wouldn’t have that option when it came to creating a new monster, but Anno’s tentative plans for the foe confronting Godzilla are a mystery and much debated. Because one rumored title for the project was Shin Godzilla Raids Again, many assume Anno was going to work in a Shin upgrade of Anguirus, though that has never been fully confirmed.
The rumor might be specious due to the uncertainty about the real title. The above has been used, but so has “Shin Godzilla Strikes Back,” and is probably closer to reality. According to Anno himself, the actual title was “Shin Godzilla’s Counterattack,” a quasi-tribute to titles that went unused. He also described the “showdown” between monsters as a “Toho Champion Festival,” which sounds more like a proposal for an arcade game or tournament.
“I wrote a proposal during the filming of Shin Godzilla on February 3, 2016, labeled Sequel Shin Godzilla Memo. The primary working title for the project was Shin Godzilla’s Counterattack (シン・ゴジラの反撃, Shin Gojira no Hangeki) and with the assumption that Mr. Higuchi would direct, it was meant to be something like a Toho Champion Festival kaiju showdown,” Anno began in the Shin Ultraman Design Works art book.
“Since it was concocted to be released in 2018, the shortest time possible for a domestic-made Godzilla film to be released, it was a rough draft for people who wouldn’t like Shin Godzilla, an idea that wouldn’t cost too much or take too long to create,” Anno said. Sadly, despite his confidence in the idea’s reduced costs and production schedule, Toho didn’t take him up on it.
“I believed that it would be a bad idea to let it go to waste so I gave the proposal, draft, and visuals, as a gift to Mr. Higuchi and Toho, but since it was premature or whatever, among other reasons, after the film’s release the discussion ended. While I did feel it was a waste, it’s not something I could help since Toho decides what gets made,” Anno added.
Toho had at least two off-ramps for Shin Godzilla 2 between this proposal and exploring the 2016 film’s ambiguous ending, where Godzilla was apparently evolving into a fifth form represented by skeletal humanoid minions. Instead, they opted to make the anime trilogy that introduced us to Godzilla Earth, the city of Mechagodzilla, and Planet Eater Ghidorah.
That trilogy was divisive, but Toho returned to that well and revisited the idea of Godzilla’s evolution with the Singular Point series. SP and Minus One are the most recent entries, and while the latter has the only confirmed sequel, it’s nice to know Toho is keeping all options on the table. That doesn’t mean Anno’s proposal will get dusted off, but odds may be in its favor after a decade.
