Godzilla (1998 film) scenes that required practical effects, Tatopoulos' studio created a 6th-scale animatronic model of Godzilla's upper-body as well as a 24th-scale Godzilla suit donned by stuntman Kurt Carley, however, the filmmakers favored CG over practical effects and as a result, the final film features 400 digital shots, 185 of which feature Godzilla, and only two dozen practical effects used in the final film. Production began in May 1997, in New York City, and moved to Los Angeles in June. Scenes in New York were filmed in 13 days; tropical scenes were filmed in the Hawaiian Islands. The United States Marine Corps
Godzilla (1998 film) to produce a trilogy of Godzilla films upon acquiring the license for Godzilla in 1992. Emmerich had considered using the Monster Island concept from the Toho films with the intention of creating something wild, as well as including six or seven monsters, stating, "We’ll probably come up with other monsters because we don’t want to tie ourselves too much to certain things". Prior to the 1998 film's release, Sony felt confident enough with the film's potential box office success that they paid Toho $5 million for sequel rights, which guaranteed them to produce a second film within five years after