Legendary and Warner Bros. have confirmed plans for a sequel to Godzilla (2014) via Deadline.com
Godzilla’s return to the big screen has proved massively successful. His return was greatly anticipated by fans as 2014 marked the end of Toho’s 10 year break imposed on the character in 2004. Producer Thomas Tull had hinted in a previous interview that Godzilla would have to reach close to $400 million worldwide for a sequel to be viable. To everyone’s surprise Godzilla delivered 40% more than forecasted for a weekend domestic total of $93 million and $103 million foreign, opening at #1 at almost every market worldwide. The film is yet to release in China and Japan, both markets are expected to bring in some big numbers.
Legendary and Warner Bros. had begun discussing possibilities of a sequel after the box office reports on Friday were tracking for a $100 million weekend. 51% of Godzilla’s current total came from premium branded screens such as AMC’s ETX and Cinemark’s XD. However IMAX found its biggest success of the year with $14.1 million generated solely through IMAX screenings. The film opened with some mixed reviews, mostly leaning on the positive side as audiences are happy with Godzilla, but are complaining about his lack of screen time. Audiences wanting to see more of Godzilla can turn out to be a good thing for the sequel as it adds to the anticipation of seeing Godzilla on the big screen again.
Director Gareth Edwards can be expected to return as he had previously expressed interest in developing a sequel. The news is guaranteed to rejoice fans worldwide, as the future of big budgeted monster movies was depending on the shoulders of Godzilla, following the disappointing box office collections of Pacific Rim last year. Eagle eyed fans spotted easter eggs in the 2014 movie referencing Mothra, a famous monster that has appeared in all three Godzilla series. With the confirmation of the sequel, it remains to be seen whether the reference to Mothra was a mere nod, or did Edwards deliberately leave a clue to the next antagonist like Nolan did with the Batman movies.
Want more Godzilla? Check out our in-depth analysis of the 1954 original, “Gojira” and see how the latest reboot stacked up in our review of Godzilla (2014)!
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