Godzilla (2006 film)

"Nothing, not even nature can stop him.

God help us all."

- North American taglines "Godzilla returns.

The king has awakened."

- Japanese taglines

Godzilla (ゴジラ, Gojira), also known as Gojira is an 2006 American science fiction monster film produced by Columbia Pictures. It is the twenty-ninth Godzilla film in the series and the second American Godzilla film. The film was released to North American theaters on May 10, 2006 and to Japanese theaters on April 26, 2006.

Godzilla was directed by Zack Snyder, produced by Dean Devlin, who previously produced the 1998 Godzilla film, among many others. The film was written by Ted Elliott, the writer of the unmade 1994 Godzilla film. Godzilla's plot follows the reawakening of an ancient reptilian monster who lived through the Prehistoric era. He then goes to New York to face an enemy that lived during his time to defeat him once and for all, destroying anything in his path.

Godzilla successfully did better than its previous 1998 incarnation and hit 3 million in the box office. On July 20, 2006, at the San Diego Comic Con panel, Sony announced that a trilogy was being made for Godzilla and two more films would be released in the following years, 2009 and 2011 and that them and Universal would work on an cinematic universe that connected the 2005 remake to the the 1933 film, King Kong to Godzilla. A sequel, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth was released in 2009 and received positive reception from critics and fans. The final film to the trilogy, Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released in 2011 and scored big as a finale in the box office. On July 22, 2011, Sony revealed that they were doing a crossover with Universal for a reboot of the 1962 monster film, King Kong vs. Godzilla. The crossover film was released in 2012. After the film, Sony handed over the rights to Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers for their reboot. The trilogy would take the place of the fallen American Godzilla film, Godzilla '94.

Development
On July 14, 2005, Sony announced that they got the rights for Godzilla back from Toho. They announced that they were gonna reboot the series and this time, it would be distributed by Columbia Pictures, not TriStar. Zack Snyder, the director of 300, would direct. They had also considered for Roland Emmerich to come back and direct but they quickly rejected bringing him back due to the failure of Godzilla '98. It was confirmed that Hans Zimmer would be composing the soundtrack for Godzilla, covering the theme of Godzilla. The movie would star Ian Somerhalder, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Charlie Day, and Kevin Dunn reprising his role as Colonel Hicks. Filming began August 9, 2005.

Marketing
Godzilla's marketing campaign was multi-pronged in its execution:

In a commercial for the Ford Shelby 36k mile car, Godzilla is seen, stomping around, roaring. He sees the Shelby and picks it up and eats it. The car suddenly starts throttling, causing Godzilla to choke and drop the car for it to leave. A male citizen says before the car is dropped, "That is one hungry dinosaur." The car lands on the ground. Half of the glass is broken. The car drives away with the driver in fear. Godzilla stomps back to the water, then he jumps in it, roaring.

McDonalds had tie-ins such as the Godzilla Meal for the adults and the Happy Meal for kids. A commercial for the Happy Meal starts off with the city in ruins. Godzilla stomps through looking for something to eat. He seees the McDonalds and tears the roof off. A cashier says, "We're gonna need a bigger restaurant." The voiceover says, "Get your Godzilla happy Meal today from McDonalds. It comes with a hamburger or nuggets of your choice. It also come with Apple Slices, milk, and a toy. Stomp on down to McDonalds today. The meal is here for a limited time only. And see the new film, Godzilla, in theaters May 10." The cashier gives Godzilla the meal and he grabs it with his hands, then he walks away.

Theatrical releases

 * United States - May 8, 2006 (New York, Virginia)
 * United States - May 10, 2006
 * Japan - April 26, 2006
 * Canada - May 15, 2006
 * Singapore - April 20, 2006 (Premiere); May 2, 2006
 * Australia - July 4, 2006 (Premiere); July 20, 2006
 * South America - June 20, 2006
 * China - July 7, 2006
 * Israel - July 31, 2006
 * Vietnam - July 2, 2006
 * United Kingdom - August 10, 2006
 * Europe - July 10, 2006

Box office
Godzilla 's budget was $150-200 million in both production and advertising costs. Financially, the film was successful in its initial release with a gross of $100 million. Domestically, it made $250,600,000 and drew in another $200 million overseas, totaling over 300 million dollars. According to fans, this was the best reboot that Sony could make. Sony also made the film as an apology for the bad 1998 film.

Sony's contract with Toho stated that Sony could make a trilogy of the Godzilla films as long as the first film was released three-four years before the sequel. Sony took up the offer and announced that a sequel was in development. While that happened, Sony released a animated television show on Nickelodeon. The show was good as its reboot and renewed for three more seasons while the sequel was being developed.