Hello everybody, as you may know there has been some small news going around. Nothing major to get hyped over, but some news that is interesting. Howl From Beyond The Fog is getting released in North America, a Godzilla museum is open for a limited time, and this year's Godzilla Festival will be online. So this is the news from last week.
Rights For Howl From Beyond The Fog Acquired For North American Release:
SciFi Japan has reported on August 5th that North American distributor SRS Cinema had licensed a North American release for an indie kaiju film called Howl From Beyond The Fog. Pre-orders for the Blu-Ray and VHS Special Editions begins in September and will be shipped late October/early November. DVD and VOD versions of the movie are also being planned to release in 2021.
Set in the Meiji reformation era in Kyushu, Japan, a young boy and a blind woman encounter a monster called Ameno-Sagiri (Nebula), who since ancient times has lived in a mountain lake and was feared as the spirit of the fog.
The movie's project started as a crowdfunding project on Kickstarter and succeeded in collecting 150% of the amount. The movie uses "Bunraku" style puppetry. In a bunraku puppet show, the story is emphasized through chanting and music from shamisen (three stringed instrument) musicians. At last year's G-Fest, there was a rough cut of the film that was shown and was received positively by the attendees. So if you need a kaiju movie to watch to hold you until Godzilla vs Kong then maybe Howl From Beyond The Fog is a movie you may want to check out.
Godzilla Museum Reveals New Movie?:
From August 8th – August 31st, the world's first Godzilla museum will be open to the public on Awaji Island, Japan. This museum features dioramas, props, a children's exhibit, food collabs, and a gift shop. A lot of the props and dioramas were featured in movies such as Shin-Godzilla, Godzilla vs Biollante, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., and Godzilla vs Destroyah.
One of the biggest talks right now is the diorama of posters of all the Godzilla movies released with Godzilla vs Kong releasing next year. Next to Godzilla vs Kong, however, is another label that just says "GODZILLA". This is usually the logo that you usually see on the merchandise, but a lot of people are thinking this label reveals a new movie. Some say it is the next Godzilla movie for the Monsterverse series and some say that it is for TOHO's new Godzilla movie.
In my opinion, I think that this is just a label put there as a way of saying that there will be more movies coming in the future. The museum even updated the diorama to add six more of the same logo just so the bottom row doesn't look so empty. We know that there will be more movies on the way, but I don't see how this label means a new movie is being announced soon.
Could a new movie from TOHO be announced? I say there is a small chance at the upcoming Godzilla-Fest 2020 event, but I highly doubt that anything remotely close to a new movie announcement will be revealed any time soon since the marketing for Godzilla vs Kong should be running at that time and TOHO will probably want people to focus on that movie first.
Godzilla-Fest 2020 Will Be Online:
On August 5th, the official Japanese Godzilla Twitter page revealed a poster for Godzilla-Fest 2020 revealing that this year's festival will be held online. The Godzilla Festival is a festival that celebrates the Anniversary of Godzilla with this year being Godzilla's 66th anniversary. The online Godzilla-Fest event will be held on November 3rd.
The festival would usually be all outside with different events, vendors, and food all being Godzilla themed. However, with this year being so chaotic with the coronavirus TOHO would rather do the event this year online. This is great for many people outside of Japan to join in as well since online is more easily accessible than going to a live event.
As for something being announced, I am not getting my hopes up for any big announcements like a new movie. Although, some stuff does get revealed like Godzilla short film for the Tsubaraya Museum was revealed in 2018. This short film is exclusive to the museum as a way to show how the steps in making a film like Godzilla with the suit, the miniature buildings, and other props and how it looks when you put it all together. I would actually be excited if they showed off the whole short film at this year's event. Then last year, TOHO revealed their new marketing strategy that would expand the Godzilla brand internationally. So far, we have seen massive amounts of Godzilla merchandise hit store shelves like the Godzilla Monopoly, Godzilla JENGA, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash by Funko, toys, plushies, shot glasses, and clothing. With Godzilla vs Kong releasing next year, we are starting to see more merchandise get put out on store shelves.
For this coming November, I expect TOHO Co. to continue making these smaller announcements. I don't expect an announcement for a new movie. I'm not going to predict a movie trailer for Godzilla vs Kong either since a lot of this festival concentrates on merchandise and events, but who knows. Maybe, TOHO will show a Japanese trailer for Godzilla vs Kong and that will be the big highlight of the festival. On the other hand, seeing how much TOHO loves Shin-Godzilla I would not be surprised if they do announce something else with that character. Ever since the movie released in 2016 TOHO has always been trying find ways to milk the movie until the cow is dry. The movie has a statue, it had concerts, a watch that has some weird texturing to look like Godzilla's skin, and even a limited time 3D ride at Universal Studios Japan. TOHO may as well announce Shin-Godzilla 2 so they can keep milking Bessy.
That is all the news from last week. There was nothing major, but these were interesting. I'm actually interested to see Howl From Beyond The Fog and hopefully it will be released on DVD/VOD early 2021 just as a way to start off the new year and I also don't have a Blu-Ray player to watch it on. What are your thoughts on last weeks news? Leave a comment in the comments section. Make sure to follow me on my Facebook, Twitter, and Minds pages to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.