New 'Ghostbusters' Trailer Includes Callback To The Original Iconic Giant Monster

Looks like the most recent 'Ghostbusters' trailer just showed off the third act villain and it looks to be a somewhat familiar face. As you can see below, it looks like we may have a similar type of Stay Puft Marshmallow Man-esque monster in the 2016 film. Now I'm not saying that Gozer the Gozerian is back to manifest giant-sized terror in this reboot of the popular franchise, but it looks like the new film may be borrowing a similar final fight for the climax of the movie. Check out the new trailer that was released over Twitter earlier today: 

Watch the new #Ghostbusters trailer now, and see it in theaters July 15. https://t.co/Y2HjHrBMET

— Ghostbusters (@Ghostbusters) May 18, 2016

And here's a closer look at Paul Feig's new monstrosity:

There actually are three Kaiju-sized ghosts that appear in the new trailer: one being a really tall humanoid ghost with stripped pants (he has appeared in the other trailers), then there are the parade balloon ghosts, and finally we have the aforementioned giant marshmallow man-ish ghost. This monster appears to have somehow taken the form of the ghost on the actual Ghostbusters logo. Fans of the original 1984 'Ghostbusters' will remember that the original Stay Puft was actually just the Sumerian god Gozer using Ray's memories from his childhood ("WHAT DID YOU DO RAY!") to create a physical form in our world. Maybe the movie is doing something similar with whatever villainous specter causing all the trouble this time.

Now the 2016 film and the 1984 film definitely do not fit into the category of giant monster films (more like a movie with giant monster scenes in them) so neither movie really qualifies for full coverage on our site. However, the iconography of Stay Puft marching down the New York city streets is one of the more famous giant monster moments in cinema history. I'm really not super excited for this reboot, but the effects work do look top notch and I am pumped to see some major destruction of the city from the new ghosts. Hopefully, the movie as a whole doesn't fall apart under the weight of the super passionate 'Ghostbusters' fans and their issues with director Paul Feig's very different approach to the universe.

Are you excited for the new movie? What are your theories about the new Stay Puft-ish ghost?

Is The Old "Kongfrontation" Animatronic Being Used For The New "Skull Island: Reign Of Kong" Ride?

Universal Studios has released a new video hosted by Universal Creative's Mike West focusing on the titular ride's main attraction: King Kong. According to the video and various sources, "Skull Island: Reign of Kong" will take riders through the jungles of the fantastical location in a revolutionary trackless vehicle. Using a mixture of 3D CGI on massive screens and live action animatronics, Skull Island will come alive in a similar fashion to the other park's latest attractions, concluding with an up close encounter with a three story high King Kong. Check out the video below and see a teaser image released by Universal of the King himself.

Many fans are already chiming in about the fact that this reveal of Kong shows more than just impressive technology. It appears that while this version of the "Eighth Wonder of the World" does not immediately resemble Peter Jackson's 2005 design, besides a basic color palette and similar scars, it looks more like the 76' Kong featured in the classic Universal Studios ride "Kongfrontation." This has lead many to believe that at least the robotics and skeleton of the iconic creature have been preserved and possibly improved upon for this new iteration.

Personally, as someone who has previously spoken about how influential the old ride was to my love of giant monsters, this, more than anything else, has made the upcoming attraction a must visit for me. Just to say hello to the big guy again.

While no official date has been confirmed, the ride is preparing for technical rehearsals to begin soon and should open sometime during the summer.

Gareth Edwards No Longer Directing 'Godzilla 2,' Who Will Take His Place?

'Godzilla 2' has lost its director according to Deadline Hollywood. Gareth Edwards claims that he is departing the American franchise he helped reboot in 2014 so that he can go back to working on smaller projects. The split with Warner Bros. is supposedly on good terms and the agreement was settled before the decision to push back the film for March 22, 2019. Max Borenstein wrote the latest version of the screenplay and WB is already searching for a director to replace Edwards.

This makes sense as the director is just finishing up 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' and the idea of rushing right into pre-production on another shared-universe tentpole film probably seemed incredibly daunting.

The big question is who will they get to replace him? Edwards had an amazing visual style when it came to shooting building-sized action, but rubbed fans the wrong way with his slow creature reveals and "less is more" approach with Godzilla himself. I'd love to see someone come in and be confident enough with the monsters to let them lead the story and action beats. Legendary and WB now have the rights to Rodan, King Ghidorah, Mothra, and several other Toho classic kaiju, so we should have a proper "versus" film with the sequel.

I really want to see some discussion from our audience on who should take over the reigns. My vote? Matt Reeves. He's shown that he can handle amazing giant monster action with 2008's 'Cloverfield,' while not letting the human characters in that film fall into generic and bland background caricatures. I also truly believe his work in 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' was stunning and that he gave real life to fictional creatures with independent personalities and instincts.

Who would you have step up to the plate?

The Kaiju Film You Probably Missed: 'Big Man Japan'

'Big Man Japan' is a comedic mockumentary film about the life of Dai Saito, a Kaiju fighter in present day Japan; well, present day Japan back when this movie was released in 2009, almost a decade ago. In the movie he has agreed to be the subject of a documentary style "day in the life" TV show in hopes of improving his standing with the population of Japan.

Saito is a middle aged salary man in Tokyo with a less than ideal home life. He and his wife are separated and facing divorce. Saito only gets to see his daughter once a month and his grandfather is in declining health and living in a nursing home. The only thing he really has going for him is his job and even that is on a downward slope. What is that job you ask? Dai Saito grows to a monstrous size to fight the various kaiju that torment Tokyo.

He isn't the first Big Man either. In fact, he is a fifth generation Big Man and before him his family was treated like heroes for defending Japan. He blames the changing times and the lack of interest the new generation has in kaiju fighting for his fall from grace. However, as the movie progresses, it becomes apparent that Saito is unpopular because he's just not good at his job. He is actually hilariously bad at it.

The movie stars, and is written and directed by Hitoshi Matsumoto, a professional comedian in Japan for over thirty years. He is most famous for being a founding member of the longest running comedy variety show in Japan called "Downtown: Gaki No Tsukai." Trust me, if you find Japanese humor... well, humorous, then "Downtown" is worth a look (particularly the KiKi series and the Batsu Games.)

'Big Man Japan,' possibly the quirkiest kaiju film ever made, is definitely not for everyone. The kaiju design isn't so much uninspired, as it is increasingly odd as the movie progresses. Matsumoto seems to take a light hearted approach to the world of kaiju by going with super simplistic designs for all of his monsters. Most of them have very humanoid features, which is definitely not what most imagine with they think of giant monsters attacking Japan. 

The interactions between the characters in the film give it an eccentric, almost Wes Anderson vibe, particularly at the end. I won't give it away because I'm not a monster, but it involves some ridiculous Ultraman knockoffs. It's weird and honestly one of the funniest moments in the movie, but sadly is lack luster and feels out of place. I actually challenge you to watch the entire movie and not once ask "What the hell am I watching?!" I've watched it several times and I asked this every time.

 'Big Man Japan' is a giant monster movie I feel like every kaiju fan worth his salt should see at least once. Even just to be able to say they've experienced it. I can't promise it will resonate with everyone the way Godzilla, Gamera, or the mighty Kong does, but I can guarantee that this movie will make an impact on you. Whether that's good or bad, in the end, is up to you.

Heisei Gamera Series Gets The Definitive 4K Blu-ray Set In Japan

Japan always gets the nicest kaiju things. There is a new blu-ray box set for the Heisei Gamera series comes out on July 22nd in Japan and it looks to be a pretty awesome collection. The movies in the box-set have been fully remastered in 4K resolution and have a ton of never before released special features for the films.

The set includes a total of four films, three of them being the Gamera trilogy from the 90's ('Guardian of the Universe,' 'Assault of Legion,' and 'Revenge of Iris') and the last film being 'Gamera The Brave' (2006). 

The collection also includes two separate discs full of special features including the thirty-second teaser for the proposed Gamera revival and a documentary that was aired on TV during the release window of 'Assault of Legion.' The discs also contain features that were limited to the previously released VHS and Laserdisc versions of the films until now. Rounding out the set are a couple of exclusive booklets; one of them having nearly 750 unpublished photos from the making of the Gamera Trilogy. The set will cost you a pretty penny though since it is priced at  ¥38000 ($349.00). 

'Gamera The Brave' being included is actually a bit strange since it has absolutely no connection to the previous three films, but I suppose it technically is part of the Heisei era.  The Shûsuke Kaneko Gamera trilogy from the 90's are still some of the best giant monster films in existence and I would be extremely excited to see these movies again in the super detailed 4K resolution. 'Gamera The Brave' however is kind of the black sheep of the more recent Gamera films, opting to go back to the silly kid rescuing creature of the 60's instead of sticking with the violent tone of the 90's films. 'Gamera The Brave' was not very well received in Japan (or by fans everywhere for that matter) and unfortunately caused the studio to put the creature back into hibernation. This does mark the first domestic blu-ray release of 'Gamera The Brave' film in Japan though.

Now for the million dollar question: do I think we will see the 4K restoration box-set in some form pop up in America? I wish we would, but unfortunately I really wouldn't count on it. There have been restorations of the Godzilla films in Japan that have never made the trip out of the country and I think this will end up being a similar situation. Gamera doesn't have much appeal stateside anymore unfortunately, and nostalgia alone does not warrant such a high price tag for most fans. Maybe we will get lucky and get just the 4K blu-rays released separately at a way later date.

Will you import this box-set from Japan? What are your thoughts on the Gamera trilogy and/or 'Gamera: the Brave'?

'Pacific Rim 2' Drifts With 'Jurassic World' And 'Kong: Skull Island' Screenwriter Derek Connolly

After the departure of Guillermo del Toro as director and the hiring of Stephen DeKnight to take his place, fans have been hanging on every new piece of news regarding the upcoming sequel to 2013's cult favorite monster mash. Now, The Hollywood Reporter is exclusively announcing that 'Pacific Rim 2' has found a new screenwriter.

Derek Connolly has been hired to take over the reigns from previous draft's writers del Toro himself, Zak Penn, and John Spaihts. He is mostly known for his work as a co-writer on 'Jurassic World' along with director Colin Treverrow and has apparently impressed Legendary with his work on 'Kong: Skull Island' as well. He got his break in the industry co-writing Treverrow's first film 'Safety Not Guarenteed,' and has recently worked on 'Jurassic World 2' and a sci-fi drama for Dreamworks titled 'Intelligent Life.'

Plot details for the 'Pacific Rim' follow-up are scarce, but rumor is that it will take place years after the original with the giant pilot-controlled mechs called Jaegers being much more commonplace. Similar to the flashback scenes in the first film when they first started successfully pushing back the Kaiju threat. It is unclear whether this newly hired scribe is being brought in for revisions or a page one rewrite.

Connolly is definitely making a name for himself in the giant monster genre, and I'm personally looking forward to pretty much every film he's been a part of at this point. Hopefully the studio's confidence in him is proof that he's knocking it out of the park.

'Godzilla 2' Delayed, 'Godzilla Vs. King Kong' Release Date Announced

Warner Bros. revealed some late night release date shuffling yesterday evening and fans of Gareth Edwards' 2014 'Godzilla' reboot found themselves disappointed that the sequel has been pushed back almost a year. Originally slated to arrive June 8, 2018, it has now been delayed until March 22, 2019. This can be seen as a smart move by Warner bros. if they're as dedicated to their new cinematic monsterverse as they seem to be and care about the quality of the individual films that will make it up. Edwards will be fresh off of 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,' and will need time to develop a worthy sequel that will answer some of the criticisms audiences had with the first film. 

Another viable reason for the date change comes in the form of a giant monster's worst enemy: giant robots! Paramount had slated the new Transformers film to debut on the same date as 'Godzilla 2,' so it makes sense that one of them would blink first and move to a less competitive weekend.

The other monstrous shoe to drop in this announcement, found the upcoming 'Godzilla vs King Kong' finally getting an official release date. The reboot/remake/sequel will crash into theaters May 29, 2020, and so far, doesn't have much competition in the month. 

One other curious news item came out of this report, and it may or may not be giant monster related. Apparently on December 25, 2018, WB's will release an "untitled event film." What does that mean? If it is part of this monsterverse they're creating, it could be something early in development that they're confident enough in to schedule a release date for, or maybe even tied to something that occurs in 'Kong: Skull Island' which comes out the same year. They could even be trying something along the lines of '10 Cloverfield Lane,' attempting Bad Robot's marketing blitz strategy and surprising audiences with a big property out of nowhere. Either way, we all know that WB's is becoming the studio to look to for our gargantuan creature feature fix thanks to their newly acquired 'Monsterpocalypse' rights presumptively revealing their focus over the next few years. 

Does it bother you having to wait even longer for a 2014 'Godzilla' follow-up? What do you think their "untitled event film" might be? Let us know in the comments section.

Is This Really The Company Handling The American Release Of 'Godzilla: Resurgence?'

This week, film distributer New World Cinemas spoke for the first time about their supposed 'Godzilla: Resurgence' U.S. distribution on their Facebook page. While we have previously reported that New World Cinemas would be taking the reins on the American release of the film, I'm starting to have some doubts that an unknown distributor would be given the reigns to a reinvigorated franchise the size of Godzilla. I have a bit of evidence (or lack thereof) that may shine some light on this bizarre turn of events.

The above mentioned Facebook post stated the following:

“To all GODZILLA FANS! We are working hard to bring GODZILLA to every State! Patience my Friends... she is coming soon!”

Looking at the post from a purely innocent standpoint, this seems to be great news. Fans have been plastering their Facebook and Twitter with questions pretty consistently since their name showed up on the film's IMDB page. Their website has also had a strange "coming soon" page listing a 2017 release for a DVD of the film for over a month now. The Facebook post is the first real comment they have made about the film's release, other than a couple images of text that say in very broken English:

“Godzilla “The King of the Monsters’ is back in a new film “Godzilla: Resurgence.” Going back yo his roots, The Toho Company and co-drectors Hideaki and Shinji Higuchi have designed Godzilla to be more menacing and destructive. THE FILMS OPENS IN JAPAN JULY 29 2016 and will be distributed in the USA through NEW WORLD CINEMAS some time after that.”

I did not edit that paragraph in any way and you can clearly see that on both their official site and their Facebook page they come off as incredibly unprofessional. Toho has yet to officially make any sort of statement announcing an international release of the film and has made no mention of the film being distributed by New World Cinemas or anyone else for that matter. 

This all just seems extremely suspicious to me. In the last thirty years, Toho has distributed the Godzilla films in the United States using major companies like Sony (Late Heisei and the Millenium films including 'Godzilla: Final Wars')  and HBO/Miramax ('Godzilla vs Biollante'). Heck, even 'Godzilla 1985' was distributed by a company called New World Pictures (no relation to New World Cinemas) that had worked as a distributor on major films running all the way back to the 60's. Big companies are interested in distributing Godzilla films because they usually make decent money in DVD sales with barely any cost to the studio.

We know there was a marketing expo back in January/February that was showing off the concept of the film for a potential international distributor. There have also been rumors floating around that Warner Bros. were given first dibs due to their ongoing relationship with the American Godzilla sequels. If a big studio like Warner Bros. were given the opportunity to distribute, how did this tiny company that mostly distributes bottom-rung independent films win out the bid? Godzilla has become a house-hold name again due to the generally well received American movie from 2014 and has made a new audience interested in the G-man for the first time. It doesn't make any sense that none of the studios who worked with them before (especially Sony who seems to have an excellent relationship with them distribution wise) wouldn't want to capitalize on Godzilla 2014's popularity. In the modern distribution landscape, this situation looks like dollar signs, even without considering a theatrical release for 'Godzilla: Resurgence'.

Another suspicious item to note is the New World Cinemas official Twitter, which is plastered with political propaganda for the upcoming american presidential election. This official company Twitter page for the company reads more like a personal account and definitely does not exude any semblance of professionalism. Toho has always seemed like a corporation that prides themselves on being very straight laced and polished. Why would they allow their most iconic property to be handled by this strange company? 

I'm not going to call out New World Cinemas for outright lying to us just yet, but this whole situation seems extremely odd. I also worry about this company being in charge of subtitling and/or dubbing the film with their lack of integrity regarding the release and how they run their business. Many individuals and companies have tried to contact them for screening information and outside of confirming that they are in fact handling the distribution of the film to one fan that reached out, they have ceased responding to even professional inquiries. 

I'm sure we will find out more in the coming months, but for now call me a skeptic with this being how the U.S. distribution of the film will move forward. You can see New World Cinemas IMDB page here if you want to look into the other films they have previously distributed.

Am I looking into this too much? Do you think they really are the distributors of 'Godzilla: Resurgence'?

Introducing A New Contributing Writer To Tokyo Lives: James Arledge

How do you start an article about yourself? The answer: horribly. So let's get right to the fun bit and I'll bore you with my credentials later on in my bio page.

My introduction to the world of Kaiju starts, like a lot of you, with Godzilla. Me and good ol' Gojira go way back, and that is all thanks to my parents. You see, when I was younger, my parents bought us a brand new VCR. (Did I lose anyone there?) Only this VCR had something our old one didn't: a record button. Today, everything has a record button, but back then it was a big deal. My parents went crazy with the recorded VHS's; I had somewhere in the ball park of thirty episodes of the 80's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' 'Animaniacs,' and various other cartoons that I can't recall at the moment. All of them recorded straight from TV. Watching those tapes over and over, half-cut commercials and all, are some of my favorite memories as a child. But, nothing quite held a candle to my hand recorded Godzilla VHSs. I had several tapes, each with one to two movies. I don't remember exactly but to my knowledge I had 'Godzilla vs The Sea Monster,' 'Son of Godzilla,' 'Godzilla vs Mothra,' 'Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster,' and 'Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla.' I would watch a different tape every night as I fell asleep and wake up the next morning to a fuzzy screen and a blaring static sound. I didn't fully understand what I was watching and I didn't get the story. All I knew was that the mouths didn't match the voices and eventually Godzilla would fight another monster and it would be awesome! Like all children, I eventually moved on to the next thing and Godzilla moved to the back of my mind and the tapes moved to the back of the VHS shelf.

Years later, my cousin brings over a brand new game that he has been playing like crazy. He puts in the disc, gives the power button a push and the title pops up on my screen: "Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee!" The moment the game started, the memories began rushing back to me. The character, the sights and the sounds (oh God, the sounds), all of it flooded into my head. We played for hours and I was in love all over again. I needed more.

I dug those old tapes out and started watching them over and over, catching things I had missed as a child. I remember watching them so much that eventually I wore the tapes out completely. Whenever a Godzilla movie would come on TV I would be there with the VCR and a blank VHS ready to record. I recorded a few of the Mechagodzilla movies and another one with Mothra (I don't recall which one). I was a kid in a giant monster candy store and I'm still eating that candy today.

It didn't mean much to me then, but looking back the Showa Era made a gigantic impact on me as a Godzilla fan, thus it will always be my favorite era. Just like Ghidorah will always be my favorite Toho Kaiju.

I want to thank you all for reading my little intro and I look forward to bringing you the latest and greatest news from the world of Kaiju.

(Editor's Note: We're extremely excited to have James come on board and can't wait to have you check out his first article for the site coming later this week)

'King Kong Vs. Godzilla' 4K Remaster Coming In July, First Images Revealed

News has been slowly breaking over the past week that a "complete version" of the newly restored 1962 film 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' will be premiering on the Japanese Nihon Eiga Senmon Channel in July to celebrate Toho Pictures upcoming 'Godzilla: Resurgence.' This remastered version will be aired alongside of a Godzilla retrospective titled 'Godzilla: First Impact,' that hosts several Japanese celebrities talking about the franchise's influence on them personally and which film was their introduction to the King of Monsters. This also marks the second time that 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' will be shown with added footage that was either lost or incomplete from the original theatrical release that has been completely restored for the first time from a 35mm print of the film. Check out some new comparison shots of the 4K transfer below.

Flipping between images of the restoration that premiered last year and the one coming in July, you can clearly see the effort Toho put into bringing back this classic. Here's a sampling of shots that are ripped straight from a teaser trailer that the NESC has been running:

The remaster is beautiful, so far, and I can't wait until they release the whole trailer. 

I have to imagine that this is not only a nod to the upcoming Toho Godzilla film, but finally being realized in preparation for an updated blu-ray and 4K release of the film internationally. This would be perfect timing with a new American King Kong film on the way next year, and a future remake of 'King Kong vs. Godzilla' just around the corner in 2020. Hopefully, I'm right and this leads to more stunning remasters coming out of Toho in the next few years to take advantage of Legendary's American releases and the nostalgia that comes with them.

Either way, we'll keep you updated on when any of these might hit stateside.