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Director Hideaki Anno Discusses Shin Godzilla's Sequel Prospects

At a screening of the Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi's Shin Godzilla film at the TOHO Cinemas Shinjuku theater on Thursday, director Anno and the actors of the film discussed the prospects of a sequel to the film. When asked by an audience member if there would be a sequel, Anno replied, "It's not for me to decide. Ask TOHO."

When the question was asked again, this time to the actors, Hiroki Hasegawa stated, "I'd want to do [a sequel]. I went to see the movie two times. Watching it with the audience was the only time I felt that the movie was really done. There was such a sense of unity that I didn't feel it was me acting on the screen, and that was really fun." Similarly, Satoru Matsuo replied, "I'd want to do a sequel. I want to see it." Issei Takahashi replied, "I hope they'd let me participate in a sequel. It was fun being with everyone on set, and I really want to do that again."

In response to all of this, Anno said, "As for me, I'm good." He added, "It'd be more interesting if they changed directors. TOHO won't let me do it. There'd be a lot of difficulties."

Anno also responded to a remark from an audience member saying that he/she would wait as long as it took for the fourth Rebuild of Evangelion film. He first thanked the audience, and then said, "I'll work hard on it. As a matter of fact, I'm already working hard on it."

As of Monday, the film has earned 6.56 billion yen (about US$64.30 million), and sold around 4.5 million tickets. The film has surpassed both the earnings and the number of tickets sold of Anno's previous film, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, and has overtaken the live-action Nobunaga Concerto film's 4.61 billion yen (about US$44.58 million) gross to become the highest earning Japanese live-action film of 2016 so far.

The film opened on 441 screens in its opening weekend on July 29, and topped the Japanese box office for two straight weeks.

Funimation will screen the film with English subtitles in 440 theaters in the U.S. and Canada on October 11-18. The company describes the film:

It's a peaceful day in Japan when a strange fountain of water erupts in the bay, causing panic to spread among government officials. At first, they suspect only volcanic activity, but one young executive dares to wonder if it may be something different… something alive. His worst nightmare comes to life when a massive, gilled monster emerges from the deep and begins tearing through the city, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. As the government scrambles to save the citizens, a rag-tag team of volunteers cuts through a web of red tape to uncover the monster's weakness and its mysterious ties to a foreign superpower. But time is not on their side—the greatest catastrophe to ever befall the world is about to evolve right before their very eyes.

Shin Godzilla represents the latest in TOHO's film series after a 12-year absence since 2004's Godzilla: Final Wars.

Source: Oricon Style, The Mainichi Shimbun via Minna no Eva Fan