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Godzilla: Resurgence Film Posts Teaser, July 29 Date, Visual

Godzilla Resurgence (Shin Godzilla), the first new Japanese Godzilla film in 12 years, unveiled a teaser trailer and visual on Thursday. Both reveal the film's opening date of July 29, 2016.

Text: Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence)
Crowd: Run away! Hurry!
Text: Hiroki Hasegawa, Yutaka Takenouchi, Satomi Ishihara
Text: Script, Chief Director: Hideaki Anno
Text: Director, Special Effects Director: Shinji Higuchi
Text: Associate Director, Special Effects Oversight: Katsurō Onoue
Text: Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence)
Text: July 29, 2016
Text: Please look forward to it.

The tagline on the visual reads, "Japan vs. Godzilla." Mahiro Maeda (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Animatrix, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, "Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru") worked on the image designs, and Takayuki Takeya (Kamen Rider Drive, live-action Attack on Titan) worked on the character designs based on the concepts by Maeda and Anno. Anno described the designs as ones "only the Japanese could make." Maeda thinks the designs returned to the franchise's reality-grounded roots, embodying the Japanese experience of the March 11 disaster (compared to the reality of the first Godzilla films made in post-war Japan).

The film's main cast includes:

Hiroki Hasegawa (live-action Attack on Titan films' Shikishima, live-action Princess Jellyfish's Shū Koibuchi, pictured center in photographs above) plays a person linked to the government when Godzilla attacks modern Japan. Yutaka Takenouchi (Hoshi no Kinka, Calmi Cuori Appassionati, Nagareboshi, left) plays another person linked to the government, and Satomi Ishihara (live-action Attack on Titan's Hans/Hanji, Pokémon the Movie: Black - Victini and Reshiram's Karita, right) plays an American agent.

Executive producer Akihiro Yamauchi (Trick, Densha Otoko, Bakuman.) explained that the film's Japanese title, Shin Gojira or Shin Godzilla, signifies that it is not a "revival" or a "rebirth." While it can be translated as "New Godzilla," it can also mean "True Godzilla," "God Godzilla," and other connotations. Chief director Hideaki Anno coined the title to incorporate various possible meanings.

Filming began in the Tokyo suburbs in August and wrapped up at the end of October. According to a Sankei Sports' source close to the production, the story is mainly set in modern Japan, and America is also involved. At 118.5 meters (about 388.8 feet), the new Godzilla will be the tallest one yet, towering over the 108-meter-tall (355-foot-tall) incarnation in Gareth Edwards and Legendary Pictures' 2014 Hollywood film.

Anime director Hideaki Anno and live-action Attack on Titan film director Shinji Higuchi are currently collaborating on the film. Anno is serving as chief director and writer, while Higuchi is directing the new film and is also serving as the special effects director.

Higuchi promised that this will be the scariest Godzilla yet, quoting the horrors of the real world, like 9/11, the March 11 tsunami, and subsequent Fukushima nuclear crisis having stripped the the world of its innocence. The film will use a hybrid of actors moving through miniatures (a staple of the early Godzilla films), computer graphics, and special effects.

Higuchi and Anno previously collaborated on "Kyōshinhei Tokyo ni Arawaru" (Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo), Ghibli's live-action tokusatsu short. They also worked together on the Evangelion television series and Royal Space Force - The Wings of Honnêamise. Higuchi's other special-effect director credits include Japan Sinks, the Gamera films, and the 1984 Godzilla film.

Sources: Cinema Today, Eiga.com via Hachima Kikō

Update: Typo fixed. Thanks, GuruBuckaroo