The 29th film to feature Godzilla is to be shown for the first time today in the US.

Final Wars "will compile the fruits of 50 years' work and put an end to the series", the BBC reports Yukihko Mochida of Todo studio as saying. However, Mochida added that the creature may make a return if a "new generation of directors emerge or a brand new film-making method is found to create a whole new world."

The Godzilla franchise was born in 1954 when the first movie saw the angry beast rise from the sea, having been disturbed by the testing of an atomic bomb by the US military.

Final War will see the return of ten creatures from previous Godzilla movies going about their destructive business in locations including Shanghai, Paris, Sydney and New York.