Toho Studios

Takashi Yamazaki is returning to direct a new ‘Godzilla.’

It’s been twelve years since Japanese film studio Toho released its last Godzilla movie, the longest gap between films dating back the first Godzilla movie in 1954. And while Japanese audiences have always loved their kaijū (“strange monsters”) movies, the fact that international audiences are starting to develop a taste for giant monsters has set the stage for Toho to bring back their most famous creation in the 2016 blockbuster Shin Godzilla.

While I’ve never really been a big fan of the Godzilla movies, I find the culture of fandom that surrounds the movies absolutely fascinating. There have been so many Godzilla movies over the years  —  so many creatures vanquished by the King of the Monsters  —  that it would seem nearly impossible to keep it all straight. And yet, I know many fans of the Godzilla movies who speak to the various incarnations of the character and his rogue’s gallery of enemies with absolute ease.

After a decade and change, Toho is now readying a Godzilla reboot of their very own, slated for release in Japan on July 29, 2016. Aptly titled Godzilla: Resurgence, the film will give Toho’s flagship property a redesign hewing closer to the look from the original film.