While the production information in US-based entertainment media have emphasized that the new Apple Cold War 1980s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters spinoff — working title Birdwatcher — will be shooting in Australia or South Pacific locations, it appears that production licences are in place for Prague and surrounding areas in Czechia.

Given the Cold War focus, locations in Eastern Europe make sense. Canadian locations can only stand in for so much of Russia and Kazakhstan (as they did in Monarch). Prague features in many shows needing urban Eastern European locations now that Russian coproductions are not viable.

In the May issue of Location Internationalmagazine, Czech Film Commissioner Pavlína Žipková discusses international productions filming in the country this year, and references the project under the title The American Birdwatcher. 

Stillking Films, one of the Czech Republic’s leading production service companies, has registered the project with the Czech Audiovisual Fund and will coordinate local production activities.

JG Dillard shared this first behind the scenes production photo on Instagram for the new ‘Young Lee Shaw’ Monsterverse Apple spinoff series starring Wyatt Russell.

The working title is ’Birdwatcher’. Production started in mid June.

For those not aware a ‘Godzilla El Niño’ is forecast for Africa in the coming months.

It’s a serious threat to the well-being of the population on the continent. Seems worthy of the name.

Severe damage to agriculture and infrastructure is expected across large parts of the continent, and Africa has just a few months to prepare.

Both droughts and floods may cause “severe” exacerbation of food insecurity, says Rainer, who notes that some of the worst affected areas are also grappling with the effects of conflict. “In the worst case, drought can mean a complete loss of the harvest including the seeds for the next season, especially if non-adapted varieties, for example of maize, are grown.”

Climate models suggest Africa has just a few months to prepare for the short-term impacts.

This cash-crop industry perspective from a coffee industry publication definitely is doing its bit to serve its clientele.

Now in its pre-order period, this remastered release of the Atari classic is getting some enthusiastic reviews.

This may be billed as a remaster, but Pipeworks hasn’t just juiced the resolution and called it a destroyed city. These monsters – and the environments they’re rampaging through – look great. Seriously, go find footage of the original game and then go watch footage from this.

Mastodon has a great number of watch and rewatch communities.

#Remonsterdon looks to be new. Dedicated Godzilla watch parties will be taking place the first Sunday of each month.

Information in the upcoming one this Sunday, with the 1956 English release with Raymond Burr, is in the linked post from the Mastodon host @klu9@ohai.social.

These watch parties are not affiliated with this Lemmy community or StarTrek.website but look interesting.

The creator https://mastodon.social/@jean_vincent_thelant is on Mastodon and has agreed that his pieces be shared here.

Visual Effects supervisor Sean Konrad discusses how Godzilla, Kong, a scarab horde, and the seemingly unstoppable new Titan X highlighted more than 3,000 shots he oversaw on the hit Monsterverse series, now streaming on Apple TV.

“THE HORROR OF GODZILLA is for fans of Godzilla Minus One, Shin Godzilla, and Godzilla ‘54,” added editor Jake Williams. “It's a terrifying look at the Kai-Sei era's first Godzilla attack. It grabs the reader and places them on the ground in the middle of the most petrifying night in human history… the arrival of Godzilla. Through the power of Tristan Jones' visceral art style, this is the first Godzilla comic we've released that goes 100% in on horror. It very well might become the best Godzilla comic ever made… it's certainly the scariest.”

IDW will be releasing another Godzilla one-shot for San Diego Comic-Con this July.

Preorders are open until June 15th.

Weirdly, IDW doesn’t seem to have the announcement on its own site but the Official Godzilla.com and many other genre fandom sites have the announcement and listing.

Who knew that franchise-branded electric guitar peripherals were becoming a thing?

A Godzilla pedalboard would have been fantastic for garage bands back when GenXers were young…

Ouch!

The first season of the Apple TV series paired its kaijū (monster) action with deft character work, making its globe-spanning mystery feel grounded and emotionally engaging. Season Two, which aired its finale on May 1, picks up directly after the first season’s cliffhanger ending, but much of that balance is lost beneath the weight of a sprawling story and the introduction of more characters from the Monsterverse — a franchise that now encompasses six films and two other spinoff series, all based on Toho Studios’ Godzilla IP.

As the world of “Monarch” expands, the series becomes increasingly bogged down by explanations. Two years after the first season premiered, exposition that was once neatly folded into believable dialogue has been replaced with clunky reminders of previous plot points and characters.

I didn't read past this point for fear of spoilers, as I haven't watched S2 yet... but the review isn't off to a good start, is it?

Toho-licensed Rodan has appeared again in the Monsterverse. Or, has he/she?

Hopefully, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season three will be confirmed soon so we can look forward to a couple of years of intense speculation among Kaiju fans.

To decompress from the latest Monarch: Legacy of Monsters season finale and real world conflicts, here’s an older Grickle cartoon to enjoy.

It’s available for purchase at https://gricklemart.com/countryside-chill/

Somehow I did not know this existed.

There a restored 1080p version available on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/luigi-cozzis-godzilla

IGN provided this helpful piece that places Monarch: Legacy of Monsters within the broader Monsterverse continuity.

As a timeline refresher: The Monsterverse Godzilla movie that centered on the catastrophic G-Day event happened in 2014. Season 1 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters followed one year later in 2015 and ended with a two-year time jump to 2017. That was a result of the semi-successful rescue mission executed by older Shaw, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), and May Olowe-Hewitt (Kiersey Clemons) into Axis Mundi, the pocket realm between Earth and Hollow Earth, to rescue a stuck-in-time Keiko. Season 2 then unfolded over a breakneck eight weeks in 2017, leaving about 18 months of open storytelling time until the Titan awakenings featured in Godzilla: King of the Monsters.

There’s still a lot of social media debate out there however regarding the appearance of Rodan first in the continuity at the end M:LOM season two. Is it the same Rodan who appears later in Mexico in Godzilla: King of Monsters? Or, are there two distinct Rodan’s?

Since Rodan is a classic Toho Kaiju licensed to Legendary Entertainment, it’s a major commitment towards a third season narrative either way.

Season finale. Kong and Titan X face off in a colossal clash that threatens to reshape Skull Island. Shaw embarks on a dangerous journey.

Once again, an official teaser clip has been shared with media — available in this article.

An interesting choice of story to cover in ‘interesting times.’

Monarch and the team head to Skull Island. Cate tries to reason with Kentaro and stop Isabel. Shaw and Keiko search for Billy’s long-lost rift.

Written by: Warner Hansinger

Directed by: Lawrence Trilling

Welcome to the episode discussion! There is no spoiler protection in episode discussion threads, and spoiler tags are not necessary!

Monarch and the team head to Skull Island. Cate tries to reason with Kentaro and stop Isabel. Shaw and Keiko search for Billy’s long-lost rift.

Once again, an official teaser clip has been shared with media — available in this article.

Last Thursday, the Tokyo District Court ruled that 39-year-old Wataru Takeuchi was guilty of violating Japanese law that prohibits the creation of “a new work by making creative modifications to the original while preserving its essential characteristics.” Takeuchi worked as administrator of a website that published lengthy, spoiler-heavy descriptions from popular movies and series. And two of Takeuchi’s “articles” — one about Godzilla Minus One and another focused on the Overlord anime adaptation — prompted Toho (owner of the Godzilla) and Kadokawa Shoten (the publisher behind Overlord) to file joint lawsuits through the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA).

I guess the branding consultant for the new Canadian nuclear reactor aren’t fans of Kaiju cinema franchises — or maybe they are.

Looks like they’ll be producing nice Titan snacks.

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