Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters

Setting

In the last summer of the 20th century, giant monsters attacked Earth, and one monster, Godzilla, eliminated the others, driving humanity to near extinction. Two alien races, the religious Exif and the technologically advanced Bilusaludo, offered assistance but their gambit with Mechagodzilla failed. Humans and aliens were forced to abandon Earth for the exoplanet Tau Ceti e via the interstellar ship Aratrum. Twenty years later, the Aratrum is 11.9 light years from Earth, carrying remaining humans, Exif, and Bilusaludo refugees.

Plot

Captain Haruo Sakaki, who hates Godzilla for killing his parents, believes the exoplanet Tau-e is uninhabitable and tries to stop the central committee from sending the elderly to scout it. After being arrested, he witnesses the exploratory shuttle explode. He anonymously publishes an essay on Godzilla's weak points provided by Exif priest Metphies, swaying public opinion and forcing the committee to return to Earth. The Aratrum emerges from hyperspace into Earth's orbit, and reconnaissance reveals Godzilla is still alive.

Metphies arranges Haruo's bail, and Haruo explains Godzilla's vulnerability: an electromagnetic pulse-producing organ that generates an asymmetrical permeable shield, vulnerable only during a recycling period. He proposes using that window to crack the organ and implant an EMP probe to cause an implosion, requesting 600 personnel. Upon reaching Earth's surface, the group learns nearly 20,000 years have passed due to time dilation, and Godzilla has altered the biosphere.

They suffer losses from flying creatures called Servums. Haruo attacks Godzilla alone, but Leland intervenes and dies, revealing Godzilla's weak point is its dorsal fins. Metphies promotes Haruo to commander, and Haruo convinces the survivors to continue the plan.

Production

In August 2016, Toho announced an animated Godzilla film for 2017, with Gen Urobuchi as writer, Kōbun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita as directors, and Polygon Pictures as the animation studio. In January 2017, Urobuchi announced the main cast on Twitter. In March 2017, Toho confirmed the film would be the first in a new trilogy.

Co-director Shizuno stated they were not constrained by previous entries, and co-director Seshita described Godzilla's design as an extraordinarily rugged physique with masses of muscle fibers. The English dub was produced by Post Haste Digital. Takayuki Hattori composed the soundtrack, and XAI performed the theme "White Out".

Release

In March 2017, a stage event for the film took place at AnimeJapan, and a teaser poster soon confirmed a Japanese theatrical release on November 17, 2017. The film's directors later appeared at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival to discuss the project.

A June 2017 poster introduced the tagline "Despair Evolves," followed by an August trailer and poster posing the question, "Who will go extinct — humans, or Godzilla?" That September, a Godzilla x Hello Kitty collaboration displayed a two-meter statue of the film's Godzilla in Tokyo. The movie opened in Japan on November 17, 2017, and was made available on Netflix in 190 countries starting January 17, 2018. In its opening weekend, it ranked third at the Japanese box office, earning ¥103 million from 71,200 admissions over two days.

Did You Know?

• A second interstellar emigration ship, the Oratio, was sent to Kepler-452b but disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
• The film's sequels, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle and Godzilla: The Planet Eater, were both released in 2018.