In 2010, it was announced that Toho had made an agreement with both Legendary and Warner Bros., who was the studio's current distribution partner, to produce at least one American-made Godzilla film. The resulting film, Godzilla, was released to theaters in 2014 by Warner Bros.

Legendary Pictures: With the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Lucky Dragon 5 incident still fresh in the Japanese consciousness, Godzilla was conceived as a metaphor for nuclear weapons.

The inspiration for Godzilla itself began in the city of Hiroshima at 8:16 a.m. when the United States detonated an atomic bomb. The mass destruction claimed many lives and landmarks were destroyed.

The King of the Monsters is also able to withstand atomic blasts himself and thrive in chaotic conditions. Although each version of the Titan is slightly different, there's no doubt Godzilla is the most powerful and resilient kaiju to ever appear on the big screen.

To capitalize on this moment, Toho, the Japanese film studio that owns the monster and licenses it to Legendary in the U.S., said it will produce and release a new Godzilla film a year from Thursday, the anniversary of the monster's first film.

Legendary Pictures Legendary Pictures (2014–present) Announced in March 2010, the film was co-produced with Warner Bros. Pictures and was directed by Gareth Edwards.

a science-fiction monster that resembles an enormous bipedal lizard, featured in Japanese and American films, television, and comic books.

The original Godzilla, the Japanese classic of 1954, is most commonly read as an allegory for the destruction wrought by the United States' use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

The name Godzilla is a romanization of the original Japanese name Gojira (ゴジラ) - which is a combination of two Japanese words: gorira (ゴリラ), "gorilla", and kujira (クジラ), "whale". The word alludes to the size, power and aquatic origin of Godzilla.

Producers from Toho Studios developed the film under the code name “Project G,” for “giant.” Sometime after hiring Ishiro Honda to direct, they hit upon the name “Gojira,” which blends two Japanese words: “gorira” meaning “gorilla” and “kujira” meaning “whale.” The combination conveys the creature's giant size and its ...

Toho Co., Ltd. Toho Co., Ltd. The original film, Godzilla, was directed by and co-written by Ishirō Honda and released by Toho in 1954. It became an influential classic of the genre. It featured political and social undertones relevant to Japan at the time.

Godzilla, Japanese Gojira, Japanese horror film, released in 1954, that was directed and cowritten by Honda Ishirō and features innovative special effects by Tsuburaya Eiji. The landmark film was a sensation at the box office and sparked a spate of “giant monster” movies.

Godzilla1954Godzilla Raids Again1955Godzilla, King of the Monsters!1956King Kong vs. Godzilla1962Mothra vs. Godzilla1964Ghidorah, the Three‑Hea... Monster1964 Godzilla/Movies

A gigantic, prehistoric, dinosaur-like amphibious creature powered by nuclear radiation, Godzilla began as a metaphor warning against the dangers of nuclear proliferation in the wake of World War II and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Godzilla (ゴジラ Gojira) is a kaiju who first appeared in the 1954 film Godzilla. The original Godzilla is a prehistoric amphibious sea creature that was disturbed and burned when an American hydrogen bomb test conducted in the Pacific Ocean destroyed his habitat and drew him to the surface.

Central theme -- that giant monsters may represent a way to halt humanity's destruction due to climate change -- is a powerful one, particularly when characters talk about ecological balance.