For Toho, another monster number

Studio behind the hit ‘Godzilla Minus One’ invests $225 million in Fifth Season.

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.

“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 liveaction 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.

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 bigbudget movies such as 2021’s “Godzilla vs. Kong,” released by Warner Bros.

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