I’m realizing I haven’t posted a lot about Criterion on this site recently, so here’s a full recap of what we know:

Criterion issued Godzilla (1954) on DVD and Blu-ray in 2012, in what is widely considered the best home video release of a Godzilla film ever.



(1954) on DVD and Blu-ray in 2012, in what is widely considered the best home video release of a Godzilla film ever. Janus Films, Criterion’s longtime business partner, brought Rodan , The War of the Gargantuas , and all but four of the Showa Godzilla films to the streaming services STARZ and FilmStruck in 2017. The later has since been replaced with The Criterion Channel, but retains all the Toho titles.

, , and all but four of the Showa Godzilla films to the streaming services STARZ and FilmStruck in 2017. The later has since been replaced with The Criterion Channel, but retains all the Toho titles. At the time, Criterion told fans who emailed them that “we hope to release them on Blu-ray and DVD at some point but they aren’t yet on the schedule.”

This year, revival screenings of Showa Godzilla films began crediting Janus as a distributor. This is how we learned they had acquired Godzilla vs. Gigan and Godzilla vs. Hedorah , two of the three G-films that Kraken Releasing used to have. Presumably, they also now have the third: Ebirah, Horror of the Deep . That leaves only King Kong vs. Godzilla , owned by Universal, who has sublicensed films to Janus/Criterion many times in the past.

and , two of the three G-films that Kraken Releasing used to have. Presumably, they also now have the third: . That leaves only , owned by Universal, who has sublicensed films to Janus/Criterion many times in the past. Criterion designer/art director Eric Skillman contacted several comic book artists on Twitter about an upcoming project in May, then made several Tweets suggesting it was Godzilla-related.

Ed Godziszewski and/or Steve Ryfle stated at their Bringing Godzilla Down to Size panel at G-Fest that Criterion would be making a Godzilla announcement this week. (Disclaimer: I was not there.)



An unnamed source at the G-Fest afterparty provided further information, suggesting that fans would be less than pleased with the dubs absent from the impending box set, specifying Gigantis the Fire Monster . (Disclaimer: I was not here either.)

. (Disclaimer: I was not here either.) Criterion numbers all of their releases, and one of the films or sets they announce this month will be #1000.

Criterion typically announces new releases on the 15th of each month. This time they missed the date, then stated on the 16th that they would be announcing them on the 17th. Yesterday they postponed it again to today – the first day of San Diego Comic Con, where Toho is debuting a Godzilla booth.

August Ragone also teased a Godzilla announcement from Criterion this morning.



It looks like our wait is about to be over.

