The Great Buddha Arrival

The Great Buddha Arrival (大仏廻国) is a 2018 Japanese kaiju film directed by Hiroto Yokokawa. The film was based on the lost 1934 film of the same name, made with the cooperation of director Yoshiro Edamasa's grandson. Additional footage with new actors was shot to extend the film's run time for international distribution. Still more footage was shot for a Japanese theatrical release, termed the Final Edition. This last release occurred on September 4, 2020.

Background
After the release of the 2014 Godzilla remake, director Hiroto Yokokawa was introduced by a friend to the existence of The Great Buddha Arrival a film made in 1934 that is now considered one of the earliest kaiju films. In 2016, he contacted Kazuyoshi Fohara, the grandson of Yoshiro Edamasa, and the project of creating a remake began.

Production
Actors who have appeared in Tokusatsu films (such as Godzilla, Gamera) that influenced Yokokawa, such as Akira Takarada and Yukijiro Hotaru, were asked to appear in the film. Although 80% of the offers were declined, some tokusatsu actors decided to appear because "Mr. Takarada will appear".

Part of the production cost was raised by crowdfunding. In particular, a description of the project that was translated into English by producer Avery Guerra and published on Yahoo! News, created interest in the project. In addition a few overseas actors such as Philip Granger decided to appear, which further led to international knowledge of the project.

Home media
As of 2023, the film is available to stream on Amazon Prime.