Japan Godzilla, King of the Monsters! returned 80.0× its production cost, earning $2.0M against a $25K budget — one of the highest-return Japan films in our catalog.
Synopsis
“Incredible, unstoppable titan of terror!”
During an assignment, foreign correspondent Steve Martin spends a layover in Tokyo and is caught amid the rampage of an unstoppable prehistoric monster the Japanese call 'Godzilla'. The only hope for both Japan and the world lies on a secret weapon, which may prove more destructive than the monster itself.
Budget & Box Office Efficiency
At a 1h 21m runtime, production spent $308 per minute on screen and earned $25K per minute back.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From TOHO
Science Fiction + Horror in Japan
93 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Science Fiction and Horror genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Godzilla, King of the Monsters! itself).
The 1955–1957 Japan Window
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! holds position #19 of 28 Japan films in the 1955–1957 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
#1Throne of Blood
★ 7.9 · 1957
#2The Burmese Harp
★ 7.9 · 1956
#3Floating Clouds
★ 7.8 · 1955
#4Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji
★ 7.4 · 1955
#5A Sun-Tribe Myth from the Bakumatsu Era
★ 7.4 · 1957
#6I Live in Fear
★ 7.3 · 1955
#7Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island
★ 7.3 · 1956
#8Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple
★ 7.2 · 1955
The 1950s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1950s in Japan, 76 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Godzilla, King of the Monsters! premiered alongside 8 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 8 other Japan films in 1956.
The 88th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Audience Engagement
213 audience reviews — more than 86% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 77th percentile among Japan films.
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- animal horror · 5
- dinosaur · 22
- reporter · 14
- japan · 454
- tokyo · 78
- kaiju · 77
- giant monster · 64
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #2,913 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (36th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is -0.3 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Science Fiction productions specifically: #273 of 566 (top 48%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Japan, United States of America |
| Original Language | En |
| Spoken Languages | English, Japanese |
| Production Companies | TOHO, Jewell Enterprises Inc., Embassy Pictures Corporation |
| Runtime | 1h 21m |
| Release Date | April 27, 1956 |
| IMDb | tt0197521 |