Toho have not yet officially released a colorized version of their 1954 original Godzilla film, so when a 66-year-old man decided to sell pirated copies of the classic film he himself colorized using AI technology - it caught the attention of local authorities.
Repoered by The Asahi Shimbun (via dextro), Miyamoto was arrested on suspicion of selling an illegally copied DVD of Godzilla to a man in Tokyo through a flea market website in November of 2024.
According to the report, Miyamoto was selling colorized copies of a variety of films for between $20 and $206 each and apparently made a profit of over $11,700 (1.7 million yen) since last November!
While he thought, or at least claimed the copyright protection for Godzilla (1954) had expired, authorities clarified that the protection rights for the original Gojira don't expire until the year 2031!
Charges and penalties have not been publicly shared yet, but we can safely assume they will exceed whatever profits that were made on sales of the pirated films.
The next Hollywood Godzilla movie is officially called Godzilla x Kong: Supernova and will hit theaters on March 26th, 2027! Visit the GxK: Supernova page for more information, production updates and everything we know so far!
From Toho, Takashi Yamazaki is directing a sequel to Godzilla Minus One and is currently in development! The next film will act as a direct follow-up and will even include more Monsters! The Godzilla Minus One sequel page is tracking all information on Toho's next Godzilla movie as it becomes available, don't miss an update!
There is also the next season of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on the way, as well as other spin-off Godzilla series in the works at Apple TV!
Furthermore, while not Godzilla related, Legendary have also teamed up with Amazon to produce a live-action Pacific Rim TV series, which is also currently in the works! So many Kaiju-sized projects in the works - check back often for new information on them all!
