As stated in the introduction, Toho officially ended the second (Heisei Era) Godzilla film series after seven films (only half as many movies as the Showa Era series contained), and the company spent the next three years producing the Rebirth of Mothra film series, and Tri-Star Pictures released its long awaited but terribly received film version of the Big G during the interim (Godzilla [1998]).
Rumors as the Heisei Era series of G-films drew to a close also included a possible King Ghidora solo film to celebrate the turn of the century (which never ended up happening, instead featuring a new version of the three-headed monster as Mothra’s adversary in Rebirth of Mothra 3 [1998], the final movie in the trilogy).
However, many sources also pointed towards Toho contemplating a third G-series. It was first stated that this third series was to begin with Godzilla’s 50th anniversary in the year 2004, but instead it would luckily end up happening within a mere four years (thankfully not making G-fans wait another nine years to see a new Japanese G-film, as was the case during the first interim period for the Big G).
It would turn out that the continuity featured in the Heisei Series would likewise be completely abandoned, but at least the Heisei Series, unlike the Showa Series, received a neat, definitive resolution. In fact, the third series would throw the notion of continuity completely to the wind, to provide the most unique and diversely varied series of them all.
Daiei, the producers of both the original and current Gamera movie series, once declared that for the third Gamera film, they wanted to make “Gamera vs. Godzilla.”. Presumably, they would utilize the 50 meter version of the Big G, since the Heisei Era Godzilla was twice as large as the heroic flying turtle, not to mention far more powerful (however, so was Legion in G2, and Gamera whipped him good!). The idea hasn’t been approved by Toho at this time, and considering how poorly the latter company gets along with other film producers, I believe that it’s highly unlikely that Toho would give the “Gamera vs. Godzilla” project the green light. It’s an interesting idea to be sure, but would it be a good one? G-fans are torn over the debate on this subject, and I personally doubt that we’ll find out any time soon, if ever.
After a trio of lukewarm but relatively well-received Mothra films, Toho would finally return to crafting movies of its kaiju big gun, Godzilla, just before the onset of the millennium. However, first Tri-Star Pictures would take its eagerly anticipated shot at restoring the Big G to stardom, which resulted in most serious G-fans crying all the more for the return of the Toho version of the Kaiju King.