Godzilla has plans to slay the box office next month, and it appears the studio behind the monster hopes to do the same within Hollywood. After all, the folks at Toho are looking to head west, and these plans have got kaiju fans feeling rather optimistic.
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Recently, a report by Variety shed light on Toho and its plants to expand into the U.S. by 2021.
According to the piece, Toho will be expanding its Toho International Inc. subsidiary in order to work more easily within Hollywood. The branch has been given a whopping $14 million this year to bolster activity following a period of dormancy.
While few solid details have been announced by Toho on the expansion, the group did confirm Hiroyasu Matsuoka will act as the branch’s representative director. The leader is currently overseeing Toho’s movie and TV content sales along with the branch’s international businesses. Overall, Toho says this expansion will be part of its ‘Toho Vision 2021 Medium-term Management Strategy’ that debuted last year.
As details about the move are sparse, reports believe this western expansion will rely on mainstay characters such as Godzilla. In a recent statement, Toho did allude to its plans to further grow its most popular properties upon the world stage. “We will work toward the full implementation of JAPAN IP (Japanese entertainment content by Toho and others) on a global scale,” the company said.
So far, there is no word on whether Toho plans to expand its licensing deal with Legendary Entertainment for Godzilla. The IP lend will expire soon, but Variety reports Legendary will retain rights so long as it continues to make Godzilla films.
So, are you excited to see Toho take this big step? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Directed by Michael Dougherty, Godzilla: King of the Monsters stars Millie Bobby Brown, Vera Farmiga, Sally Hawkins, Kyle Chandler, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ken Watanabe, Bradley Whitford, among many other talents. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters May 31.
The synopsis for Godzilla: King of the Monsters reads as such, “The new story follows the heroic efforts of the cryptozoological agency Monarch as its members face off against a battery of god sized monsters, including the mighty Godzilla, who collides with Mothra, Rodan, and his ultimate nemesis, the three headed King Ghidorah. When these ancient superspecies, thought to be mere myths, rise again, they all vie for supremacy, leaving humanity’s very existence hanging in the balance.”
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