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TOKYO--Metal Gear Solid designer Yoji Shinkawa will lend his talents to the next Godzilla movie, Godzilla: Final Wars. Shinkawa, together with three other designers--Katsuya Terada, Shinji Nishikawa, and Yasushi Nirasawa--will overhaul the film's characters, costumes, monsters, and high-tech mechs.

In particular, Shinkawa is redesigning the undersea battleship Atragon and the costume for the Earth Defense Force. "I never thought I would participate in the making of one of the Godzilla movies, which I have admired since my childhood," comments Shinkawa on the Metal Gear Solid Web site, where both designs are on display. "There's nothing more satisfying for a Japanese man than that!"

Coincidentally, Godzilla: Final Wars is being directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, who coordinated the cinematic scenes in Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes. Also of note is that one of the film's other designers, Katsuya Terada, was an illustrator for the Virtua Fighter series.

Godzilla: Final Wars takes place in the near future when rampages by huge monsters are commonplace. To fight back, humankind has established a new organization called the Earth Defense Force. Japanese singer Masahiro Matsuoka stars in the movie as Shinichi Ozaki, an Earth Defense Force member who's assigned to a team of X-Men-like superhuman mutants. Together with the heroine, Dr. Miyuki Otonashi (Rei Kikukawa), Ozaki investigates a race of aliens that appeared to help humanity after the monster attacks began.

Godzilla: Final Wars is being produced in commemoration of the monster movie series' 50th anniversary. Unfortunately, it is also the last Godzilla movie planned for the big screen for at least a decade, although the series may get new direct-to-video installments. Godzilla: Final Wars will hit Japanese theaters on December 4, with a limited American release to follow thereafter.