Japan’s ‘Godzilla’ studio Toho broke box office records. Now its Hollywood footprint is expanding
Japanese entertainment giant Toho is making waves in Hollywood.
After breaking box-office records with the live-action film “Godzilla Minus One,” Toho is now investing $225 million into Fifth Season, the production company behind “Severance,” company executives said late Sunday.
The investment will give Tokyo-based Toho a 25% stake in Fifth Season, while Korean entertainment company CJ ENM (known for Oscar-winner “Parasite”) remains as the majority owner. Endeavor Group Holdings will continue to serve as a strategic shareholder.
Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel subsidiary has reached a settlement with the estate of former Marvel artist Steve Ditko over the rights to Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.
“We believe that this collaboration will be a significant step towards challenging the global market, not only in the field of animation where Toho has excelled, but also in the realm of live-action content,” Toho President Hiro Matsuoka said in a statement. “Crossing the ‘bridge’ between Japan and the world that will be built through this collaboration, we hope to see Japanese projects, intellectual properties, and content expand further into the global market.”
Toho, with a history dating back to 1932, is best known in the U.S. as the company behind the Godzilla franchise, which received its 37th film installment with the release of “Godzilla Minus One” earlier this month.
Anime titan Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, “The Boy and the Heron,” took the top spot at the weekend box office, breaking records along with another Japanese film, “Godzilla Minus One.”
The modestly budgeted “Godzilla Minus One” has generated more than $50 million at the global box office, including $25 million in the U.S. and Canada. The company has also licensed its intellectual property to Legendary Pictures for big-budget movies such as 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” released by Warner Bros.
Japanese cinema is having a moment in the U.S. with last weekend’s successful release of Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,” from Studio Ghibli.
In addition to kaiju movies, Toho is famed for having worked with the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.
Korean entertainment firm CJ ENM is buying 80% of Endeavor Content’s scripted business. The deal follows Endeavor’s agreement with the WGA to sell down its stake in scripted production.
By investing in the U.S.-based Fifth Season, whose recent projects include “80 for Brady,” “Book Club” and “Eileen,” Toho aims to strengthen its reach in the U.S. market, in addition to raising its global status.
Fifth Season was first created in 2017 by Hollywood talent agency owner Endeavor under the name Endeavor Content. The studio was meant to juice the agency’s content investments but was soon singled out in the Writers Guild of America’s recent fight with the agencies over practices that the union said created major conflicts of interest.
By 2021, Endeavor sold off an 80% stake in Endeavor Content to CJ ENM for $775 million. The following year, Endeavor Content changed its name to Fifth Season under Chief Executives Graham Taylor and Chris Rice.
Inside the business of entertainment
The Wide Shot brings you news, analysis and insights on everything from streaming wars to production — and what it all means for the future.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
