Just forget the words and sing along

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Well, I have to share this entertainment news tidbit:

Godzilla got his star on the Hollywood walk of fame yesterday. He was on hand (or rather, the actor who plays Godzilla in the latest Godzilla film, in a very cheap Godzzila suit) to accept the star. It was Godzilla producer Shogo Tomiyama who gave the acceptance speech, though. "Godzilla cannot speak English, so I am here to translate," he said.

After this, the party moved down to Hollywood's world-famous Graumman's Chinese theatre for the world premiere of Godzilla: Final Wars. This is the 28th - and reportedly last - Godzilla film. Even though it's being sold as the final Godzilla film, very few people believe it. "Godzilla has been working for 50 years," said Final Wars director Ryuhei Kitamura, "so I think he just deserves a vacation." Producer Shogo Tomiyama reflected the sentiment. "So long as Godzilla can fascinate people, I believe he will be resurrected by new generations of filmmakers in the future," he said.

In case you're wondering why there's all this hype about Godzilla, it's because 2004 is the big guy's 50th anniversary. It should be noted that over the course of the last 50 years, Toho has proclaimed "the last Godzilla movie" twice. the first "last" one was Terror of Mechagodzilla in 1974. They figured the 20th anniversary was the best time to let it go. First resurrection came in 1984, when a new film was made for Godzilla's 30th anniversary. Then, the next "last" film came in 1992, when Toho announced that Sony Studios would be making an American Godzilla film, so they'd let the Americans do it for a while. Well, that film was Godzilla (1998), and reaction to that was so bad in Japan that it led to Godzilla's second resurrection, Godzilla Millenium in 1999. (In North America, it was called Godzilla 2000).

Anyway, Godzilla: Final Wars comes out in Japan on Friday. And, rumour has it, North American distributors are starting to put in bids.

Next Issue...What About Mothra?

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