"Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S." Stomps Into U.S. Theaters March 22

Above, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S Japanese poster. Toho Co., Ltd.

20 years...already?! It hardly seems possible.

It has been 20 years since Toho's Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (known in Japan as Godzilla x Mothra x Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.) was released in Japan. I first saw it at an American Film Market screening in Santa Monica as a guest of Toho Co., Ltd.

Now, to celebrate the movie's 20th anniversary, it will be showing at selected theaters around the country for one night only on March 22.

Collider reported:

Fans of the titular King of the Monsters can rejoice as the TOHO film Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. is stomping into American theaters for the first time in celebration of its 20th anniversary from Fathom Events, according to the franchise's official Twitter page. With tickets now available to pre-order, the screening of the film will take place for one night only on March 22.

This isn't the first time Fathom Events has hosted a Godzilla showing for domestic audiences. Recently, the film's predecessor Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla was screened on Godzilla Day last year in celebration of its 20th anniversary. In addition to the upcoming screening of the film, a short titled Godzilla vs. Gigan Rex, which initially debuted at the 2022 Japan Godzilla Festival, will play in front of the movie, offering fans another reason to revisit the kaiju classic on the big screen.

Below is a music video that came out at the time of the movie's release in 2003: 

To read more, go here.

In New Mexico, it will be playing at 7:00 PM March 22 at these Albuquerque theaters:

• Regal UA Cottonwood

  10000 NW Coors Blvd, Albuquerque, NM 87114

  Map  Add to Calendar
  7:00 PM

  Tickets via 

• Century Rio 24 Plex and XD

  4901 Pan American Freeway NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109

  Map  Add to Calendar
  7:00 PM

  Tickets via 

• Regal Winrock IMAX & RPX

  • 2100 Louisina Blvd NE, Bld 400, Albuquerque, NM 87110

    Map  Add to Calendar
    7:00 PM

    Tickets via 

The National Diet Building

Above, the National Diet Building. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Godzilla trampled through one of its wings in 1954. King Kong stood on its tower in 1962. Mothra used it to to go through metamorphosis to change from a caterpillar to moth in 1992. A battling Godzilla and Mechagodzilla crushed it in 2003.

The National Diet Building didn't get any respect over the past 60 years from kaiju.

Tokyoing.net has a spotlight article on the National Diet Building in Tokyo.

They wrote in part:

National Diet Building is located in Chiyoda-ward of the center of Tokyo. This building has the history of more than 70 years and is worth looking. The building is symmetric. The house of Representatives is placed on the left side, and the House of Councilors is placed on right side.

It is also spotlighted in The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan due to its history in daikaiju eiga.

To read the article at Tokyoing.net, go here.

Mechagodzilla In "Godzilla 3"?

According to KDrama Stars.com, the Godzilla 2014 sequel and a part 3 entry "have been confirmed."

Above, one of the Showa Mechagodzilla suits on display. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Now begins the rumors and speculation on the foe(s) Godzilla will be facing, which seems to indicate that Godzilla will be a trilogy of movies.

It is rumored that Mothra will be featured in the next movie. They reported that, allegedly, in the end credits of Godzilla in "selected Asian countries" a scene was shown of Mothra "commanding an army of MUTOS" and of Mothra "flying up and generating a hurricane." Is this a harbinger of things to come?

They reported that Gareth Edwards told reporters that for the third movie, he sees humans creating their own version of Godzilla and "it will end badly for the humans." Does this mean that Mechagodzilla will be appearing in a Godzilla 3?

If these rumors are correct, just how excited will Mothra and Mechagodzilla make the general viewing public? That's hard to say. To the hardcore Godzilla fan, these rumors will probably not be too exciting as Toho tended to overuse these characters during the last few years of their Godzilla production run. The trend of late is to have movies featuring giant robots. We've had Pacific Rim featuring giant robots fighting kaiju, and a Pacific Rim sequel has been given a swift green-light due to the success of Godzilla. (Should I even mention the Transformers movies?)  I would still go see the movies featuring Mothra and Mechagodzilla, but probably with a little less enthusiasm, unless a new foe is introduced as well.

In any case, a Godzilla sequel is a few years away as Legendary Pictures has other, and more pressing, priorities.

To read the KDrama Stars article, go here.