The five year gap (1984 - 1989).

[Showa Gyaos]

The Godzilla series had been postponed for nine years, from 1975 to 1984. The drought lasted nearly a decade, and Toho knew that Japan wanted Godzilla back at the time, since re-releases of many Showa Godzilla movies in 1982 brought droves of people into theaters. His 1984 resurrection led to this, as stated by William Tsutsui in his book Godzilla On My Mind (2004): "[Gojira (1984)] was not a runaway box office smash, but it was the second-highest grossing Japanese release of the year and sold 3.2 million tickets, well over three times as many as the final Showa series offering in 1975." It was a success, but why didn't it compel Toho to produce yet another Godzilla movie the following year? Instead, they chose to wait five years, resulting in a less-than-expected gross revenue for Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) five years later. The most likely reason, IMO, is that Toho wanted to build even more anticipation, but I have heard of many other proposed assumptions. Here they are:

- The 1984 Godzilla suit was lost (assumed to have been stolen, even), which might have delayed any production.
- The contest entries submitted by people for a movie script of the sequel may have consumed more time for production.
- Toho was willing to sit on the growing sales of its merchandise.
- The movie's underwhelming performance in the United States could have given Toho a negative impression on the demand for a Godzilla series.

Are there any known reasons for the moderate gap in time?

[Hellspawn28]

I think it might due to that they wanted to take time, and try to focus on better ideas on the next movie. I think the movie had a underwhelming performance in the United States because the movie had very little marketing, poor reviews, and that Godzilla was not fighting another monster turn people off.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

Another part may be that Tomoyuki Tanaka's anticipations for the box office performance of Gojira (1984) weren't matched, so maybe he just wanted to wait a while to build some more hype for the sequel.

[Arbok]

I get the impression that at the time of production, Toho actually hadn't planned to continue the franchise. The Return of Godzilla was a single reboot to the series with a solid closure. No plan was made for a follow up at the time of its development.

It wasn't until years later when Toho decided that they wanted to use the character again, and at that time the door was wide open. The fact that a futuristic style Gunhed entry was considered probably means that Toho hadn't ruled out maybe rebooting the series again in 1989, up until they did a bold move and made a closely tied sequel with Godzilla vs. Biollante instead.

[Legion1979]

I get the impression that at the time of production, Toho actually hadn't planned to continue the franchise. The Return of Godzilla was a single reboot to the series with a solid closure. No plan was made for a follow up at the time of its development.

It wasn't until years later when Toho decided that they wanted to use the character again, and at that time the door was wide open. The fact that a futuristic style Gunhed entry was considered probably means that Toho hadn't ruled out maybe rebooting the series again in 1989, up until they did a bold move and made a closely tied sequel with Godzilla vs. Biollante instead.

Actually, Toho kept announcing a new Godzilla movie in the 2-3 years leading up to Godzilla vs Biollante, I believe even announcing a movie in at least two yearly line-ups. But nothing ever ended up happening until 1989. I believe a big part of it was just trying to find the workable story and the confidence to go ahead.

[Arbok]

Actually, Toho kept announcing a new Godzilla movie in the 2-3 years leading up to Godzilla vs Biollante, I believe even announcing a movie in at least two yearly line-ups. But nothing ever ended up happening until 1989. I believe a big part of it was just trying to find the workable story and the confidence to go ahead.

Really? Do you know where I could find some documentation of this?

I have yet to see a script or concept proposal from after 1984 up until they started the story contest later in the decade.

[JVM]

Any more details on the story contest?

[Legion1979]

Really? Do you know where I could find some documentation of this?

I have yet to see a script or concept proposal from after 1984 up until they started the story contest later in the decade.

I know it's in the gigantic making-of article in the Godzilla vs Biollante issue of Japanese Giants, but I don't have a copy on me at the moment.

[Arbok]

Any more details on the story contest?

Well I'm an idiot. For some reason I thought this happened later on, but I just checked and the first submission was actually in 1985 for the story contest (and it was global, as the Gunhed-like idea was from outside Japan)... so yes, Toho just took forever in adapting the contest entry into a finished script.

In fact, at least 9 concepts and scripts were submitted for Godzilla 2/Godzilla vs. Biollante... so clearly this concept had been given a lot more thought and revisions than any other produced Godzilla film from Toho.

[JVM]

Any more details on the story contest?

Well I'm an idiot. For some reason I thought this happened later on, but I just checked and the first submission was actually in 1985 for the story contest (and it was global, as the Gunhed-like idea was from outside Japan)... so yes, Toho just took forever in adapting the contest entry into a finished script.

In fact, at least 9 concepts and scripts were submitted for Godzilla 2/Godzilla vs. Biollante... so clearly this concept had been given a lot more thought and revisions than any other produced Godzilla film from Toho.

Thanks for the info. I was always curious about that. How long was the contest open?

[Hellspawn28]

Where there any other scrap ideas that came from the contest?