Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

"Despair evolves"

- Tagline

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters ＧＯＤＺＩＬＬＡ怪獣惑星 (Gojira Kaijū Wakusei), also known as Godzilla: Monster Planet, is an upcoming Japanese animated produced by Toho Company Ltd. and Polygon Pictures. It is the 32nd film in the Godzilla series and the first animated film in the franchise.

It will be released to Japanese theaters on November 17, 2017, and then streamed on Netflix worldwide at a later date following said release.

The film is being directed by Kobun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita, with a screenplay being written by Gen Urobuchi. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters takes place in the far future, with humans returning to a Godzilla dominated planet Earth, having initially tried to escape it to little success.

This film is to be followed by two sequels, being the first in a planned trilogy.

Description
"Ever since it was first released as a feature film in 1954, “Godzilla” has come to be a colossal cultural icon loved by millions around the world. The 2016 release of “SHIN GODZILLA”, directed by Hideaki Anno, reinvigorated the franchise, bringing a completely novel and realistic depiction of the iconic monster story, which earned 82.5 million dollars at the box-office and captured the imagination of new and old fans alike. Now in 2017, “Godzilla” continues to surprise everyone along a new evolutionary path as a feature-length animated film. “GODZILLA” the animated movie takes the franchise into the uncharted territory of a future world in which Godzilla has dominated the earth for the past 20,000 years with mankind as diaspora, culminating in a fateful final confrontation. Directing is Kobun Shizuno whose theatrical realize of “Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare” last year grossed 63.3 million dollars, the highest attendance ever for that famed franchise. He is joined by another proven talent on the cutting edge of computer graphics, Hiroyuki Seshita, as director and executive director of recently-topical anime including “Knights of Sidonia” ('14) and “Ajin” ('16) Penning both the story and screenplay is Gen Urobuchi of “PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA” ('11) and “Psycho-Pass” ('12), a writer known to his large and loyal fan base as a master of meticulous and unpredictable storytelling laced with powerful ideas. Finally, handling the production is 3-consecutive Emmy award winning Japanese 3DCG animation studio, Polygon Pictures, which produced “Knights of Sidonia” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” on U.S. television earning Outstanding Special Class Animated Program at the 40th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. Prepare for the earth-shattering roar of a brand new “GODZILLA”, unlike anything heard or seen before."

- Official site description of the film.

Development
On August 18, 2016, Toho announced that an animated Godzilla film is currently in the works for a 2017 theatrical premiere, with Gen Urobuchi as the writer, and Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita as the directors.

On January 19, 2017, six members of the film's main voice cast were revealed, alongside a piece of concept art with what appears to be a duo of unknown mechs and human soldiers walking through a forest. Alongside this announcement was that of the film's scheduled stage event at AnimeJapan 2017 on March 26, 2017.

On February 24, 2017, more concept art for the film was revealed via the film's twitter, showing a vehicle that looks oddly like the Super X from the Heisei era of Godzilla movies.

March 6 yielded more fruit when another concept image was posted on the Godzilla anime's official Twitter once more. This time, the piece depicts two people in heavy duty suits walking through a foggy forest full of spiny trees.

On March 13, it was announced that the film will release on Netflix later in the year, following a theatrical release in Japan.

More concept art for the film was revealed on the 16th and 22nd, respectively.

On the 22nd, a promotional flyer was given out to the buyers of the Shin Godzilla Blu-ray release in Japan, which revealed the film's full title of Godzilla: Monster Planet.

On the 24th, an official description for the anime was revealed via the film's official site, shown below. Alongside this was news of the film's release date, which has been slated for November, 2017.

On the 31st, a featurette for the film was revealed. It possessed interviews with voice actors, some previews into the development of the film, including the creation and rendering of models within the film. It was filmed and subtitled entirely in Japanese.



On June 12, 2017, a promotional poster for the film was revealed, this time featuring the titular monster himself. The design of the creature was shown to be very reminiscent of the recent 2014 design for the monster.

On July 6, a thirty second teaser trailer for the film was revealed. Short snippets of the film preview included shots of the protagonist, Haruo Sakaki, the main cast, a new kaiju, and a brief shot of Godzilla, shrouded in dust, somewhat reminiscent of the 2012 Comic-Con trailer for the 2014 Godzilla film.



At a later date, it was announced that S.H. MonsterArts would be producing a figure of the 2017 Godzilla incarnation for the film, and a sample image of a figure prototype was released at the time of the announcement.

On July 30, 2017, a press release was pushed out by Toho, and was also documented by Scifi Japan. It revealed the film's English title of Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, and once again confirmed the film to be launching on Netflix, with a tentative release gap of late 2017, to early 2018. Alongside this press release also came a plethora of high quality images from the film.

On August 11, it was revealed that a two meter tall statue of the Planet of the Monsters Godzilla incarnation was being constructed, presumably for promotion of the film.

On October 23, 2017 a new trailer for the film dropped. It featured much more of the titular monster, and even revealed its atomic breath design, for the film. The trailer had a tease of the aforementioned "White Out" musical track accompanying it.



Plot
"The final summer of the 20th century… when mankind learns it is no longer the sole ruler of planet Earth. The planet is beset by the emergence of colossal creatures that roam the earth, and king among them is “Godzilla”. For a half a century, these beasts engage in ferocious battle with each other and mankind. But humans, unable to compete, prepare for exile from their home planet. In the year 2048, a select few humans are chosen by the central government's artificial intelligence infrastructure to set out on an interstellar emigration vessel, the Aratrum, on an 11.9-lightyear journey for the planet Tau-e in the Cetus constellation. But when they arrive after 20 years of space travel, the remnants of mankind find the environmental conditions on Tau-e to be much different than expected, and basically uninhabitable by humans. On youth on board the emigration vessel, Haruo, had seen his parents killed by Godzilla before his eyes when he was only 4 years old. Ever since, he has thought of nothing but returning to Earth to defeat Godzilla. With the doors to emigration now closed, Haruo and other crew spearhead a “return to Earth” decision despite severely attenuated and hazardous conditions on board for such a long trip back. Somehow, the Aratrum makes the return journey in one piece, but the home they return to has become an alien planet. 20,000 years have elapsed, and a new ecosystem has emerged withatop the food chain. Can mankind take back its native planet? Will Haruo get his revenge?"

- Story introduction

Appearances
Lists include monsters and machines mentioned in Monster Apocalypse, the official prequel novelization to the film, as they share continuity, and have been mentioned in promotional material for the film.

Monsters

 * Godzilla (2017 design)
 * Servum
 * Zilla
 * Biollante
 * Orga
 * Anguirus
 * Rodan
 * Megaguirus
 * Kamacuras
 * Kumonga
 * Dagahra
 * Barem
 * Dogora
 * Baragon
 * Baran
 * Manda
 * Gabara
 * Hedora
 * Megalon
 * Kamoeba
 * Gezora
 * Ganime
 * Gorosaurus
 * Griffin
 * Shobijin-like being

Vehicles

 * Moguera
 * Super X series
 * Gotengo
 * Markalite FAHP
 * Gun-Head

Future
On March 25, at the Animation Film Godzilla Special Stage event at AnimeJapan 2017, it was announced that Monster Planet is the first in a planned trilogy of animated Godzilla films.

Trivia

 * This will be the first Godzilla film to not be a live-action film.
 * This is the second Godzilla movie to have two directors.
 * The subtitle of this film is based on a 1994 Godzilla simulator title, Monster Planet of Godzilla, which screened only at a Tokyo theme park called Sanrio Puroland.
 * The phrase firstly released in August, 2017 "Who will be extinct, man or Godzilla?" 「滅びるのは、人か、ゴジラか. 」 (Horobirunowa Hitoka Gojiraka) is akin to "Who will be extinct, mankind or the Legion?" 「滅びるのは、人類か、レギオンか. 」 (Horobirunowa Jinruika Regionka?) used in Gamera 2 (1996).