Godzilla (franchise)

The Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira) franchise is a series of multi-media featuring the monster Godzilla, owned by Toho. It is recognized by Guinness World Records to be the longest continuously running movie franchise, having been in on-going production from 1954 to the present day (with several hiatuses). The film franchise consists of 28 films produced by Toho (three of which had American adaptations) and two Hollywood reboots. A reboot by Toho is scheduled to be released in 2016 while Legendary Pictures is proceeding with a shared cinematic franchise of their own with their second Godzilla film set for a June 2018 release while a cross-over film with King Kong is targeted for a 2020 release date.

The first film, Godzilla, directed by Ishirō Honda, is an early and influential classic in the monster film genre and was initially released by Toho in 1954. Utilizing an atomic bomb incident to unleash the monster, the film tapped into political undertones and feelings common to Japan at the time. The original introduced an acclaimed music score by Akira Ifukube, which was reused in many of the later films. The original also introduced the work of Toho special effects master Eiji Tsuburaya who used miniatures and "suit-mation" to convey the large scale of the monster and its destruction. For its North American release, the film was reworked as an adaptation and released in 1956 as Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The film featured new footage with Raymond Burr edited together with the original Japanese footage. This "Americanized" version was released internationally, becoming a widespread and long-time commercial success and the only version of the original Godzilla film available outside Japan until 2004.