Godzilla: Generations (film)

Godzilla: Generations is a 2022 American monster film featuring Toho's character Godzilla. It is a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), and the fifth film in Legendary Pictures' MonsterVerse, the 37th film in the Godzilla franchise and the fifth Godzilla film to be completely produced by an American film studio. The film is directed by Taika Waititi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Terry Rossio and Max Borenstein. The film stars Idris Elba, Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Julian Dennison, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Waititi, Zhang Ziyi, Robert De Niro, Charles Dance, Jessica Henwick, Akira Takarada, Joe Morton, Jessica McNamee, Elizabeth Olsen, Russell Crowe, Lance Reddick and Brendan Gleeson. In the film, Monarch finds Godzilla trying to find inner peace. Godzilla must return to action as Monarch awakens Anguirus, Baragon and Varan, as well as Mothra, Biollante and Rodan, to stop SpaceGodzilla and The Gryphon from eliminating all life on Earth as Monarch theorizes if Godzilla should fight more threats for generations to come.

The film was put in production during the filming of Godzilla vs. Kong, with Barry Idoine as director of photography, but would be announced when #ContinuetheMonsterVerse went trending during the COVID-19 Pandemic in March 2021. Waititi wanted to differentiate Generations from the previous film, seeking to make a 1980s to 1990s inspired adventure with elements of the previous film and romance films. He adapted elements of the Showa and Heisei Eras of Godzilla films. Casting was revealed later that year as well as a score by Micheal Giacchino and Nami Melumad. The film's production budget of $250 million made it one of the most-expsensive films ever made and the most expensive film in the franchise.

Godzilla: Generations premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on May 10, 2022, and was released in the United States and HBO Max simultaneously on May 18, 2022 to positive reviews. The film received praise for it's light hearted tone, action sequences, visual effects, Idris Elba's performance and music, but criticism towards some of the screenplay. Many critics deemed it superior to Godzilla vs. Kong. Generations grossed over $800 million, beating The Batman earlier that year and making it the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2022. The film was nominated for Best visual effects, best film editing and best original score at the 95th Academy Awards, and received other accolades.

A sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is scheduled to be released on March 15, 2024.

Plot
A few months after Godzilla's battle with Kong and Mechagodzilla in Hong Kong, several giant beasts, called "Titans," attacked many cities across the world. Godzilla, the king of the titans, had to keep them in check.

An unknown being makes it's way to Earth, destroying a NASA space station. Monarch is alerted and begin to investigate the wreckage. Dr. Mark Russell learns of a distress signal from a survivor of the attack. Mark and the crew find the injured survivor, named Terrence Stevens. Terrance warns the team that the thing that attacked them could be a new, evil clone of Godzilla.

In Auckland, New Zealand, Martin Reno entertains children at a party telling stories of Godzilla and the other Titans.

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Cast
· Idris Elba as (TBA)

· Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell

· Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell

· Brian Tyree Henry as Bernie Hayes

· Julian Dennison as Josh Valentine

· Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ford Brody

· Taika Waititi as Martin Reno

· Zhang Ziyi as Ilene and Ling Chen

· Robert De Niro as Steve Martin

· Charles Dance as Alan Jonah

· Jessica Henwick as Connie Matsu

· Akira Takarada as (TBA)

· Joe Morton as Houston Brooks

· Jessica McNamee as (TBA)

· Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody

· Russell Crowe as Terrance Stevens

· Lance Reddick as Guillermin

· Brendan Gleeson as (TBA)

Additionally, Hakeem Kae-Kazim reprises his role as Admiral Wilcox from Godzilla vs. Kong. T.J. Storm portrays Godzilla, returning after Godzilla (2014) and Godzilla: King Of The Monsters (2019). Storm also portrays SpaceGodzilla. Megumi Odaka, Yumiko Shaku, Misato Tanaka, Sean Combs, Robert Scott Field and Mugihito all make cameo appearances in the film.

Titans and superspecies
· Godzilla

· SpaceGodzilla

· Anguirus

· Baragon

· Varan

· Biollante

· Mothra

· Rodan

· Gryphon

· Probe Bats

· Skullcrawlers

· Warbats

· Behemoth

· Hellhawks

· Sker Buffalo

· Leafwing

· King Kong (Cave Painting; mentioned)

· King Ghidorah (Cave Painting)

· MUTO (Cave Painting; Photograph)

· Hollow Earth Elephants (Cave Painting)

· Mechagodzilla (Photograph; Mentioned)

· Triceratops (Painting)

· Tyrannosaurus Rex (Painting)

Weapons, vehicles, races and organizations
· Monarch

· G-Team

· Apex Cybernetics

· Bio-Major

· Hollow Earth Aerial Vehicle

· Osprey

· USS Argo

· Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II

· HMMWV

· M1 Abrams

· Type 10 Tank

· UH-1 Iroquois

· Type 87 RCV

· General Atomics MQ-1 Predator

· Iowa-Class Battleship

· 24 Twin Rocket Car

· Full Metal Missile Launcher

· Anti-Nuclear Energy Bacteria

Influences
Waititi confirmed that the film is a pseudo-remake of Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla and Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio's script for what would become Godzilla (1998). Waititi saw the film as an 80s-90s adventure, taking inspiration from posters for The Heisei Godzilla films, as well as films such as Conan the Barbarian (1982), The Beastmaster (1982), Apocalypse Now (1979) and The End of Evangelion (1997), and even art seen on vans in Venice Beach. The covers of "Old" Mills & Boon romance novels. The second MonsterVerse film, Kong: Skull Island (2017) was also an "influential touchstone" for the film.

For SpaceGodzilla's crystal wings he uses during the final battle, Waititi was inspired by the wings of light from Neon Genesis Evangelion, as well as Arael, an antagonistic Angel, also from Evangelion. The first battle Godzilla does was inspired from Gamera's first battle against the Gyaos in Gamera 3: Revenge Of Iris (1999).

Crew
· Taika Waititi - Director

· Michael Dougherty - Executive Producer

· Dan Lin - Executive Producer

· Roy Lee - Executive Producer

· Yoshimitsu Banno - Executive Producer (Posthumous)

· Kenji Okuhira - Executive Producer

· Jen Conroy - Co-Producer

· Tamara Kent - Co-Producer

· Ann Foley - Costume Designer

· John "DJ" Desjardin - Visual Effects Supervisor

· Jim Rygiel - Visual Effects Supervisor

· Guillaume Rocheron - Visual Effects Supervisor

· Alessandro Ongaro - Visual Effects Supervisor

· Tom Woodruff Jr. - Effects and Creature Designer

Development
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Writing
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Filming
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Post-production
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Music
In December 2021, Michael Giacchino revealed that he would be scoring the film, incorporating themes from Akira Ifukube, Koichi Sugiyama and Takayuki Hattori's previous Godzilla scores. A soundtrack album, featuring Giacchino's rendition of the Godzilla March along with the score composed by him with additional cues by Nami Melumad, was released by WaterTower Music on May 6, 2022. Waititi wanted the music to reflect the aesthetic of the movie with it's "bombastic, loud, colorful palette." "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses is featured in the film, given Guns N' Roses is one of Waititi's favorite bands, and helped "reflect the sort of crazy adventure we're [visually] presenting." The song was also used in the films marketing. The film features the song "Rainbow in the Dark" by Dio, during the end credits.

Marketing
Lego sets and Playmates Toys based on the film were revealed In March 2021 with Funko Pops based on this film and other installments of the MonsterVerse revealed in April. In the publishing program in, Toho and Legendary announced a comic book prequel to the film called "Godzilla Generations: Monster War," by Matt Frank.

The teaser trailer was released on December 17, 2021. A poster for the film was also published that day. Marco Vito Oddo of Collider and Ryan Parker from The Hollywood Reporter highlighted the use of "Sweet Child o' Mine," Parker calling it a "bright, stylish, fun trailer that sets a tone for the film in true Taika Waititi form." The trailer has 210 million global views in it's first 24 hours.

In February 2022, an Art Book and Novel based on the film were announced. In March 2022, more licences were announced, including Bioworld, Rubies, Bandai, Jeep, M&M's, 60Out, McDonald's, The Virtual Reality Company, Snickers and General Mills, as well as serval video game titles based on the MonsterVerse. A second trailer was released on March 26, 2022, revealing SpaceGodzilla.

Release
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Box Office
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Critical response.
Godzilla: Generations received critical acclaim from critics and fans. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval "fresh" rating of 100% based on 350 reviews, with an average rating of 9.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "In some ways, Godzilla: Generations feels like Thor: Ragnarök - Godzilla Edition, and overall, it offers fast-paced fun to make this a worthy edition to the long running Godzilla series."

Sequels
In March 2022, it was announced that a sequel to Godzilla: Generations is scheduled to commence filming later in the year in Gold Coast, Queensland and other locations in South East Queensland. In May 2022, it was announced that Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard will return to direct and that Dan Stevens had been cast in the lead. The film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, is scheduled to be released on March 15, 2024.