Godzilla 2, the planned sequel to Gareth Edwards' summer blockbuster, now has a release date. Warner Bros and Legendary announced on Thursday that the film will hit cinemas on June 8, 2018. 

GodzillaBryan Cranston [L] in 'Godzilla'

Edwards had already confirmed that he will once again be behind the camera - sending out a video pretending to help with the clean-up of the destruction of San Francisco, featured in the reboot. 

At Comic-Con, Warner Bros also suggested that three other iconic monsters from the legendary Toho canon will probably make an appearance in the sequel: Rodan, Mothra and Ghidorah. 

More: read our Godzilla review

More: Gareth Edwards reboots the King of Monsters - Godzilla

The distant release date for Godzilla 2 may have something to do with Edwards' commitment to Disney. He will direct the first of the upcoming series of standalone movies set in the Star Wars universe, set for release in December 16, 2016. The studio is yet to reveal the subject of the movie, though fans speculate that it would be Yoda, or Boba Fett. Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) is writing the script.

Godzilla

Edwards' rise up the Hollywood ladder has been nothing short of remarkable. He partly self-financed his first feature - 2010's Monsters - before catching the eye of the major studios. 

"When you look at a film, there's certain key emotions you're going to provoke and feelings you're going to try to create for the audience," Edwards said in an interview with Hero Complex in April. "I'm always looking for where's the bit where they might tear up - even if it's not tearing up in a sad way, just that you're so much in awe of what you're looking at that you get goose bumps and you start to well up. 'Close Encounters [of the Third Kind]' does that for me."

Godzilla, starring Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston, has made $507 million worldwide. 

Watch the Godzilla trailer: