What is the longest running film franchise? Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, being released this year, will mark a 5-movie franchise that's run 42 years, but that's not it. The Alien franchise began in 1979 with Alien, but despite new projects in development that still only makes 44 years. The James Bond franchise that began with Dr. No and on hiatus since 2021's No Time to Die has seen a whopping twenty-five films over 61 years, with a new Bond seemingly on the verge of being announced any day. It's close, but no cigar - or shaken martini - for you, Mr. Bond. Technically, Jurassic Park began over 248 million years ago in the Mesozoic Era, but the film franchise itself is a measly 30-years old. The reigning king (wink) of the longest running film franchise in history has been on cinema screens since 1954, over the course of 38 films, with a 39th set for 2024: Godzilla.
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The Creation of 'Godzilla' Is Tied to Tragedy
On August 6, 1945, the world was changed forever when an American B-29 bomber dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The resulting explosion cost an estimated 80,000 Japanese their lives, with radiation exposure the cause of death for thousands more. Another atomic bomb would be dropped on Nagasaki three days later, with an estimated 40,000 people killed. The undiscerning weapons killed soldiers, civilians, men, women, and children alike. Emperor Hirohito shortly made public his announcement of Japan's surrender, only able to describe the horrific events as being the result of a "new and most cruel bomb." With Hiroshima and Nagasaki still fresh in their memories, an event on March 1, 1954, sent the entire nation of Japan into a state of panic. That event befell the 23 crew members on the Japanese fishing boat “Daigo Fukuryu Maru” (“the Lucky Dragon”), exposed to nuclear fallout from the US experimental detonation of an atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll - 1,000 times stronger than the Hiroshima bomb.
It's these tragic events that led to the creation of Godzilla, a giant dinosaur awakened by a hydrogen bomb, with scales that resembled the keloid scars on those who survived the atomic bombs of 1945. The 1954 film Godzilla introduced the rampaging beast to Japanese audiences, a metaphor for the consequences of atomic testing and nuclear weaponry. It was a strong political statement that brought tears to the eyes of the Japanese public, putting on screen the trauma of the Japanese people without explicitly calling out the American actions (the bombings were a taboo subject under the American occupation of Japan following the war). Godzilla introduced the tropes of the franchise, with an unkillable Godzilla rampaging through Japan, but the parallels to the Japanese experience were obvious: a fishing boat destroyed in the opening minutes as a nod to "the Lucky Dragon" incident; the debate between two protagonists on if Godzilla should be studied versus the threat of Godzilla outweighing any benefits of studying him an allusion to the American's using Japan as a guinea-pig of sorts against the call to stop from the Japanese who know first-hand the dangers; and hospitals filled with those exposed to radiation sickness mirrors the real-life exposure that killed thousands.
The success of the film in Japan led to the film being released in America as Godzilla, King of the Monsters! However, there would be no tears from American moviegoers. The film released was heavily censored, with an estimated 20 minutes of the original cut to remove the political message and absolve the U.S. of its decision to drop the bombs. New footage featuring actor Raymond Burr interacting with body doubles was added to the American cut, and the Japanese dialogue was dubbed - poorly dubbed - by English actors. The alterations led to the film being dramatically different from the original cut, turning a thought-provoking film about the perils of nuclear weapons into a cheesy monster movie. Nevertheless, the film was a hit, the first Japanese film to find commercial success in America.
How 'Godzilla' Became the Longest-Running Franchise
Godzilla's follow up, 1955's Godzilla Raids Again was a quickie sequel that lost the pointed politics of its predecessor in favor of profit. From there, the franchise continued to shy away from its original intent, becoming instead the standard for Japanese kaiju series where Godzilla would take on other large monsters. The precedent begain with Godzilla Raids Again, where Godzilla tackles a large ankylosaurus named Anguiris, before becoming a de facto part of the series with the third film, 1962's King Kong vs. Godzilla, making its intention right up front with the title of the movie. Godzilla himself would evolve from feared kaiju to a heroic figure saving Earth from a variety of destructive, large monsters, a change prompted by Mothra to help her and Rodan protect Earth from the titular beast of Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. The change was necessary, according to special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano, saying, "I believe that without any changes to Godzilla's character, the series would not have been able to continue. If Godzilla had remained a villain, probably only hardcore Godziilla fans would have watched the movies, and not the general audience."
Changes to Godzilla's character may have been acceptable, but changes to his appearance not so much, with fans reacting extremely negatively to the changes in appearance for 1998's Godzilla, with 2014's Godzilla righting that wrong on the American side of the franchise. Otherwise, the tried and true kaiju formula has kept Godzilla at the forefront of beloved big-ass monsters on film through four distinct eras: the Showa era (Godzilla to Terror of Mechagodzilla); the Heisei era (The Return of Godzilla to Godzilla vs. Detoroyah); the Millennium era (Godzilla 2000 to Godzilla: Final Wars); and the current Reiwa era, starting with 2016's Shin Godzilla. The Japanese side of the franchise will be represented again in 2023, as announced by TOHO, while Legendary's MonsterVerse continues with a sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong, working title "Origins", being set for release in 2024. Godzilla may truly be unkillable, with a public whose fascination with the iconic figure and his battles the driving force behind the longevity of the franchise. And that's just fine.
